


i'm not scared (of how it burns)

by kthlimitless



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Blow Jobs, Camping, Explicit Language, Flirting, Fluff and Angst, Genuinely have no idea how this became over 50k, Han Jisung | Han & Lee Felix are Best Friends, Hand Jobs, Holding hands and giving hickeys are their fav things to do, Like seriously that's the fic right there, M/M, Making Out, Misunderstandings, Summer Vacation, Swearing, Teasing, They're each other's yellows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:47:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 58,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29315073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kthlimitless/pseuds/kthlimitless
Summary: 𝙮𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬; 𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯. The most luminous colour in the spectrum. A colour that captures our attention more than any other color. In almost every culture yellow represents sunshine, happiness, and warmth._____Jisung feels the warmth of yellow long before he realizes he's in love, and when he does, his moment of happiness is replaced with a cold, crippling cowardly fear when he sees his world is still colourless, meaning Minho doesn't feel the same way.
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Lee Felix/Seo Changbin
Comments: 22
Kudos: 92





	i'm not scared (of how it burns)

**Author's Note:**

> Kind of poured my heart and soul into this fic but I definitely know there's still errors and typos in it that I'll probably end up rereading 50 times over again trying to catch them all so if you see a mistake, ✨pretend you don't✨
> 
> Also, later in the fic when they're discussing Changbin's back tattoo, [here's](https://i.ibb.co/hZxt5yr/awesome-upper-back-shipwreck-tattoos-for-men.jpg)  
> a glimpse of what I based it off of! 
> 
> Enjoy!

Jisung's parents always used to say _"enjoy your younger years in junior high and high school, they'll be some of the best years of your life!"_ , and he understood why now.

He really fucking did.

He thought at this point he may just give his left arm and right foot to go back in time ten years so he could be 13 years old again and starting Junior High. Maybe he'd even throw in a kidney to seal the deal.

Jisung understood why their old saying was so true now because balancing the loads of work that seemed to be coming in daily as he wrapped up the last couple weeks of his final year of University, his part-time job as a restaurant server, and trying to get his internship papers together, was about a heart beat, skip, and jump away from sending him into mass hysteria.

He still had a month before graduation, but if he didn't submit all his graduation papers soon and finish his list of things to do (which was written in a mess of dry erase markers on Jisung's whiteboard in his room and there was so many notes written all over the board in every direction that at this rate, Jisung could barely read what was there), then he was surely going to miss his due dates and have stay an extra semester the following school year to catch up and graduate late and the thought of that made him want to rip his hair out. 

And seeing as Felix had given away a shift at Hwang's just to come over to Jisung's apartment and dye his hair last month, he figured his friend would kill him if he showed up to work bald one day instead of showing off his dirty blond hair.

(At least that's what the box label said when Felix had described it to him. How was Jisung _really_ supposed to know? He just took his friend's word when he said that dirty blond hair was a 'big thing' right now and that they could have somewhat matching blond hair.) 

So one month, 31 days, to finish an extremely large list of shit he had to do to, and find where the _fuck_ he misplaced his internship papers because if he didn't give them to Chan to pass on to his boss by the next of next week, then Jisung may as well kiss his dream career goodbye. And to top it all off, he had to work double back to back shifts this weekend and had no time for anything else. 

When Jisung unlocked his apartment door, shoes soaked completely through to his socks and hair dripping wet droplets of water on his floor from his Friday afternoon walk home after class, he threw off his ruined sneakers and his phone in the direction of the couch as he cursed the stupid weather app on his phone because the forecast did _not_ call for any chance of rain today. But then his phone ended up ricocheting off the arm of the couch and hit the ground under his coffee table in front of the couch, screen first and Jisung yelped, running to the phone. 

He sighed in relief when he saw his phone wasn't damaged, checking the time quickly to see he was already running fifteen minutes late in his schedule and he worked in less than two hours. Jisung hazardously tucked in his phone in his back pocket as he went to scurry off the floor but then his eyes caught glimpse of something that didn't look the same shade of grey as the floor did, tucked in a corner of the underneath of the coffee table and Jisung reached his hand out, grabbing the object and shouted when he read what it was. 

"Oh thank fuck!" Jisung held his previously misplaced internship papers in his hands tightly. How they ended up under the coffee table, Jisung had no idea, he was too happy to just have his papers in his possession again. "Maybe the Universe is on my side today." 

Then his phone vibrated in his pocket. 

_'ryujin called in sick. hyunjinnie asked if you can come in earlier.'_

_'how early?'_ Jisung quickly typed back. 

_'lol like as soon as possible.. it's busy af for a friday afternoon nd im stuck doing the front AND both the patios cause we're so short staffed. hyunjin is calling a few night staff but most of them are still in class since their shifts don't start for another two hours'_

Two hours, _yeah_ , like when Jisung was originally supposed to work. 

_'ill be there asap. gotta call a cab.'_

His phone went off again, 10 seconds after he sent his message. 

_'ur a lifesaver !! ill share my tips with you when my shift ends <3'_

He pinched his eyebrows together. The last thing he wanted to do was go into work when it was already busy but leaving his friend high and dry was not an option and the thought of Felix's tips did help lessen the pain of clocking in early since the boy always made the best tips, especially when the restaurant was busy. 

Damn Felix for his amazingly cheerful personality. 

Jisung rushed down the hall to his room where his face nearly collided with the wall when his head was down, trying to send a quick text to Chan, asking him to stop by Hwang's tonight to pick up his internship papers, and he took the corner turn into his bedroom too sharply, his wet socks sliding along the floor, sending Jisung flying into his dresser and about two inches away from smashing his nose off his closet door. 

"I get it, Universe, I get the fucking message. _Screw Han Jisung_ , message received loud and clear." He grumbled as he kicked his wet socks off, not even paying attention to where they went, he knew he'd probably find them later that night when he got off work and was too tired and ended up slipping on them in the dark and landing on his ass. 

It'd happened three times within the past month and a half. 

Jisung changed into his button up work shirt and a pair of his work weekend skinny jeans (the tighter the jeans, the better the tips, _scientifically proven_ in his own humble opinion), putting on a new pair of dry socks before grabbing another pair of sneakers and bouncing from foot to foot to put them on and tie them as he pressed his phone into ear, held between his cheek and shoulder in the most uncomfortable way that Jisung thought he was going to get a neck cramp even before the taxi company answered the phone. 

He tucked his internship papers in his book bag carefully not to wrinkle them as he swung the bag over his shoulder and grabbed a raincoat (because apparently it wasn't just the Universe that hated Jisung today, but Mother Nature too.) and ran to his whiteboard, finger gliding across it to erase _'find intern papers u fuckin moron'_ off the board before scooping up his keys and locking his apartment as he ran down his apartment building's hallway, getting a text that his taxi was outside. 

It wasn't until Jisung was halfway to work when he realised something and slammed his head against the headrest of the cab, closing his eyes, wishing a tidal wave would just sweep him up now and end his misery. 

He forgot his fucking name tag. 

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


Seeing darker colours was easy. Everyone was able to see the colours of black, white, and grey, but Jisung managed to figure out what he thought brown might look like, and maybe even a deep purple colour too, just from how their tones seemed to stand out in interesting ways among the grey scale Jisung saw everyday. 

Lighter colours were almost nearly impossible for him to decipher but he might have a fighting chance if you asked him to identify the colour blue too. His friend Seungmin always seemed to be wearing jeans with big rips in the legs and they never looked a dark enough shade to actually be black, so Jisung thought whatever colour it is, it would have to be something they call "blue". 

And it's not like he was jealous of people who could see every colour. He just didn't find how in the open and accepting society everyone claimed they lived in now, why about 56% of the world's population saw the full colour spectrum for what it was and the other 44% couldn't? And the one reason for that being they weren't 'in love' and hadn't found 'their person' yet? 

So maybe there was a tad bit of jealousy.

 _Or_ maybe, he just thought the whole concept of finding the one was a joke.

Now don't get him wrong, he didn't hate the idea of finding his person and he wasn't anti-love. Jisung was actually a very loving and affectionate person, always ready to give his friends a hug or a joking kiss on the cheek. It was fun for him, even if he only saw his friends' reactions in the grey colour spectrum. It was only sometimes he let his mind wonder what it would be like to see his friends' faces light up with colours as they laughed when he placed a sloppy kiss to their cheek. 

Like last year, when Jisung and his group of friends went out to a club to celebrate Seungmin's 22nd birthday. Jisung had raised his shot glass, exclaiming a bunch of over the top well wishes to his friend that _"you get laid as much as you want!"_ and planted a kiss on the boy's cheek making him shout in protest and become completely embarrassed. He wondered if Seungmin 'blushed' like Jisung had read in books over the years, if his cheeks went rosy or if his whole face became the colour 'red'. 

He found it utterly hilarious that the school system didn't even bother teaching kids about what it was like when you found 'the one', everyone's stories being so unique that it was nearly impossible to teach. There was only one colour taught in school and it was yellow. And that was only because everyone saw it when they fell in love, after that you're on your own to figure out what the hell is going on. 

Again, Jisung could only laugh at the stupidity of it all. 

But, Jisung never complained. He might laugh and not find it fair and he _certainly_ didn't agree with how the Universe worked, but he accepted it, especially since the Universe had a tendency to kick Jisung when he was down. 

He accepted that he hadn't found _the one_ yet, and really, he was okay with that. Because he never wanted to experience the pain he was witnessing two of his friends go through right now. 

  
  
  
  
  


Felix and Changbin had been what everyone called polar opposites. Felix was loud, didn't mind expressing his thoughts, could make a conversation that lasted hours with a stranger (which was probably why he always made better tips than Jisung), and he was just a complete sweetheart. Changbin, on the other hand, was more reserved. He didn't freely try to talk with people (but could carry a conversation like nobody's business if he had to). He was laid back, quieter, and could come across as rude at first if you didn't take the time to get to know him.

But somehow, they were perfect for each other. 

Key word, _were_. Jisung reminded himself as he let his thoughts wonder as he drank his coffee on his second break of the night. 

They'd met almost four years ago, when Felix was in his first year of University and was running late for his shift at the restaurant. He wanted to call Jisung to tell him to let Hyunjin know that his last class of the day had run longer than expected and that he'd be a half hour late, 40 minutes tops. But his phone had died as soon as he'd checked the time when he got out of class so running was his only option.

(Felix had later claimed to Jisung doing track and field for six years back in Australia was the only thing that saved him from even arriving at his job that day in the first place.)

He had been turning around a building about a block from his work when he full-on collided with another person, sending them both onto the hard pavement of the sidewalk below them.

And Felix being Felix, for a whole solid minute after they'd hit the ground, he didn't shut up. He went on one of his famous 'rambles', as Jisung loved to call them, stating how sorry he was, that he was running late for work for the third time that month, and that to make it up to the person they could come with Felix and he'd buy them whatever meal they'd like because he was a server at a restaurant and might even be able to get him a coupon for a free meal to use for another time since he was his manager's favourite, despite having a tendency to be late if he worked the afternoon shift. 

Felix had later told Jisung he would've probably kept continuing to talk and make a fool of himself if he hadn't finally looked to see the person he knocked over, becoming overtaken by a loss of words as he stared at the handsome stranger who was smiling at him, and replied with _"I'll take that free meal, but only if you join me."_

In the peak of their relationship, Felix told Jisung how warm his chest felt the first time Changbin had spoken to him and that the same feeling and warmth happened again when he saw his world begin to shine with colour months later, the night Changbin kissed him. 

_"The Seoul skyscrapers lit up over the horizon were so beautiful that night, Jisungie, I'll never forget it."_

It was just a shame now though, that every time Felix looked at the horizon at night, he saw the same thing Jisung did. 

Grey. 

  
  
  
  
  


"Are you packed for the trip?" Felix asked with a smile, sliding in the booth seat across from Jisung, they were at the back of the restaurant in a corner booth that they liked to call _theirs_. The boy placed a cup of something hot down and a piece of strawberry sponge cake before beginning to dig in. 

"Fuck you for looking happy and eating in front of me while you're off. I'm stuck here for another five hours." Jisung wanted to take his friend's fork and stab him with it. 

"Don't be mad at me just 'cause you're jealous my lecture got cancelled so I was able to come in early and therefore _leave_ early." Felix snorted, rolling his eyes and took a giant bite of his cake into his mouth, purposely chewing loudly. 

"You disgust me. And to answer your question, no I haven't started packing, we don't leave for another month." Jisung stated with a raised eyebrow as he watched his friend pretty much inhale the food in front of him. 

Felix finished his cake and downed half his drink before speaking again. "It's always good to start packing ahead of time and make a checklist so you don't forget anything. You know once Chan hits the road, he's not turning around. We're just lucky Hyunjin offered to be the other driver instead of Changbin, he drives too much like a maniac to make a pit stop for anyone." Felix laughed, but it was short lived as Jisung saw the way Felix's face fell, eyes closing for a second when the boy clued into his own slip up of the name drop. 

The camping trip had been planned, scheduled, and booked six months in advance so everyone could book the time off. Hyunjin, Changbin, and Chan had plenty of time to juggle around workloads, Jisung and Felix had time to book time off work and graduate, and Seungmin was given enough time to complete his semester at med school. All their friends agreed it was the best idea they had ever come with, thinking so far ahead, and that their plan should work perfectly with no flaws. Chan even mentioned he was going to bring two of his friends that their group hadn't met yet so the others were beyond excited, not worrying whatsoever since everything and everyone was accounted for. 

But no one saw the breakup coming. Especially one month before they left for their trip.

Jisung's phone had gone off shortly after nine o'clock one night last week with a hiccuping Felix on the other line, trying to get out _"Can you come over? Changbin and I broke up..."_ but his voice was shaking so badly he had to ask Felix to repeat himself twice before he finally understood what his friend was saying and once he did, it took Jisung less than five seconds to grab his apartments keys and slip a pair of shoes on before he took off in a run with near Olympic speed to his best friend's apartment building that was down the street from his own. 

The next morning, Felix saw the colour grey for the first time in three years.

The first thought was to cancel the whole trip. Three days after the breakup, everyone was gathered around the booth that Jisung and Felix currently sat in. Jisung had been working that day and warned everyone that his break only lasted twenty minutes so the group couldn't waste much time in trying to figure out what to do. Chan explained if he called the campsite as soon as possible, they'd be able to get at least 50%, maybe 70% if they were lucky, of their deposit back. But Felix had shut that solution down immediately. As had Changbin, who had spoke up first. 

"I'm not letting you cancel our trip that's been in the works for months. Felix and I talked and we both agree that we still want to go to the campsite." Changbin had said as Jisung was setting a plate of spaghetti in front of Hyunjin before he sat down next to the boy, Jisung shot Felix a glance from where he was fidgeting across the table and Jisung kicked him from under the table and Felix's head jerked up.

 _'You good?'_ Jisung's eyes asked.

Felix nodded, his smile was weak but trying so hard to stay on his face as he addressed his friends. "Look, I know this is a really awkward situation that we've put you in. You guys probably think you have to separate yourselves from hanging in this group now because you don't want to create conflict in choosing me over Changbin, or the other way around. And we don't want that to happen. Like Changbin said, we talked and decided that we're all still friends here, despite what's happened, and that shouldn't need to a big enough issue that it would have to change our camping trip."

"But it is a big deal though. You guys can't see–" Hyunjin wasn't able to finish his sentence as he suddenly gagged when Seungmin stuffed a forkful of spaghetti into his mouth to shut him up. 

Jisung looked at his friends, noticing Felix had finally looked at Changbin for the first time that day and Jisung saw the way Changbin's eyes were locked on Felix and where the boy was seated, on the opposite corner of the booth from him. His face seemed to soften only for a moment before his eyebrows furrowed again, looking away from his ex to speak to the group again. 

"We're going on the trip."

  
  
  
  
  


"How are you doing by the way?" Jisung asked in a quieter voice. His eyes softening as he saw his friend take a deep breath in. 

"Yesterday was rough, he stopped by to grab the last of his things in the apartment. After he left, I smashed all the wine glasses in the kitchen and cried for an hour. But I'm better today, no tears or anger." 

Jisung's heart sunk as he grabbed his friend's hand across the table. "Don't tell Hyunjin you broke his favourite wine glass, he'll skin you alive." Jisung joked lightly and took it as a small victory when Felix's eyes lit up and he laughed for a second before resting his back against the booth, speaking out sadly again. 

"I'm not used to the colour change. I've never had to see such pathetic colours like this before and I think it's really taking a toll on my sanity honestly, especially when Changbin is around me."

Jisung remembered when Felix told him he saw yellow for the first time. He had begun by telling him that eight was his now and forever his favourite number. 

When Jisung had asked why, Felix went on to explain that he'd went with Changbin to an arcade after they'd both finished work and ended up in a heated battle of air hockey where Changbin had nearly taken a kid's eye out with a flying puck just to score the winning point against Felix and he chose his prize as a sunshine key chain, only to give it to Felix when the boys were outside saying _"it reminds me of you"._ Felix had told Jisung that he was thankful Changbin kissed him a second later because he thought he was going to have a stroke from how hot the evening sun suddenly felt on his body and how Changbin had a glowing warmth of heat around him that Felix could only ever describe as _'yellow'_. 

He'd even written the event on Jisung's calendar in his apartment. As he began to do with plenty of others, every time he was over at Jisung's. 

_'March 8th, Changbin kissed Felix. Felix saw yellow and now sees a bit of colour._

_'May 8th, Changbin said 'I love you'. Felix sees the entire colour spectrum. (note to self, Jisung looks horrible in the colour green) ((Fuck you Felix))'_

Jisung knew the Universe didn't care for him but he thought it was extremely unfair and unoriginal for the Universe to screw over Felix the way they did. Because on the same day, May 8th, three years later, Changbin and Felix broke up. 

And Felix lost his colours. 

Jisung wondered what it would feel like to see yellow for the first time, knowing that's the moment when you fall in love and you can pinpoint it so precisely it was sickening. But if having to experience heartbreak and pain was the price of seeing colour only to lose it in the end, Jisung would stick with his greys. 

The Universe could take their colour spectrum and shove it up their ass.

"I'd say you'll get used to it eventually, but I can only imagine what it's like to lose colours." Jisung didn't like how Felix called the grey scale colours pathetic, it's all Jisung's ever known and he felt like Felix was calling _him_ pathetic for a second, but he knew his friend would never mean it, he was just upset. "I'm sorry though, Lix. Really." 

Felix simply squeezed his friend's hand, not wanting to carry on the conversation because there were things he was going through that his friend just wouldn't be able to understand. "Get back to work, table six seems like they're ready for dessert." 

"Wooyoung can handle it. My break doesn't end till 4:30." 

"It's 4:48." 

"Fuck!" 

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


Chan had stopped in briefly while Jisung was balancing six plates that stretched across the length of both his arms and he got so excited when he saw Chan wave at him from the door, he nearly dropped table 12's artichoke soup but quickly shifted his arms to the right and settled all the dishes that threatened to fall and sent his friend a wide smile, mouthing for him to _'wait by the counter'_ until Jisung delivered the juggling act of dishes in his arms. 

Turned out, the woman at table 12 ordered the soup and saw Jisung's nearly drop and convinced her husband not to tip since Jisung was "too careless with their food". 

Jisung just put on his best customer service smile he could muster as he handed her husband the debit machine, mumbling _"bitch"_ as he left their table two minutes later. 

"You probably won't hear anything from Jinyoung until after we get back from the camp. I didn't realise he was also taking some time off." Chan said as Jisung returned from the back of the restaurant with his internship papers, passing them to Chan who put them in his bag. "But he doesn't leave until Wednesday so I'll give these to him tomorrow since I have to pop into work for a few hours to finalise the next comeback song for our newest girl group." 

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Jisung chanted, he'd probably get down on the ground and kiss Chan's shoes if he wasn't at work right now and had to be in _Professional Work Mode_. 

"Sure Jisungie. I've already been putting in a pretty good word for you, but it's all based on your own skill whether the company decides to accept you or not."

"So it's like I'm destined for failure." Jisung sighed, resting his hip against the counter, looking out at the restaurant. He was supposed to close tonight with Ryujin, who just _had_ to call in sick, leaving him to train their new hire Renjun on how to close and with only an hour left before closing time and almost every table still full, Jisung knew he was in for a long night. 

"No, but you could learn to gain some patience." 

Jisung scoffed. "I run off coffee and anxiety pulsing through my veins, Chan. There's no room at the Inn for a bitch named 'patience'." 

Chan rolled his eyes, about to say something but the restaurant's door opened, signalling more customers were coming, cutting him off and Jisung put his face in his hands to groan out in frustration for a second when he saw a family of five people coming in and Chan simply laughed at him, wishing him good luck for the rest of his night and went to leave, holding the door open for one of the family member's that was carrying a toddler on her hip. 

Jisung sent Chan a glare from the door. Chan winked, giving him the middle finger. 

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


Chan was right. In the coming weeks, Jisung didn't hear a word about his internship, which really sucked but at least he had other things going for him. 

He was completely caught up on his remaining assignments for his final semester, had submitted his graduation forms, and had wiped almost everything off of his whiteboard other than a note in Felix's hand writing that read _'pack for camp! less than 2 weeks!'_ and seeing as Felix had left that a week ago, Jisung thought maybe he really should start packing. 

  
  


But he didn't. 

_"Han Jisung, if you don't get your shit together we'll literally drive away without you!"_ Hyunjin was shouting into his ear and he had to toss the phone on his bedroom floor rug that he was currently sitting on, and pressed the speakerphone button, missing the three seconds of peace he had before Hyunjin's annoying voice rang through his entire bedroom. _"You've had months, literal_ months _, to plan what you were bringing and wearing during the trip, yet you wait until we're outside your apartment building to start packing!?"_

Jisung pressed the volume down button five times. 

"You act as if I wasn't dealing with a whole ass University graduation literally two days ago, that takes time to get ready for, Hyunjinnie." 

_"Felix and Seungmin were dealing with school too, and they were still packed on time. Felix was even waiting for us outside of his apartment, you're just an idiot!"_

Jisung rolled his eyes, a smirk coming to play on his lips as he stuffed some shirts into his bag. "Do you think there's gonna be any cute guys at the campsite? I'm nicely folding a pair of swim trunks that make my waist look extra skinny. Actually, do we know what Chan's friends look like? Maybe he has a hot friend we don't know?" 

_"Oh my god."_ A pause. Jisung heard a distance snort that sounded like Felix in the backseat and he smiled. _"Oh my dear god. Someone take the phone from me. I'm going to kill him if I hear his voice again."_

Jisung grinned, biting down on his bottom lip hard to avoid laughing as he heard ruffling around on the other line.

_"Jisungie."_

"Minnie!" Jisung cheered as he heard Seungmin's voice coming through his phone. 

_"How close do you think you are to finishing packing?"_

"Probably twenty minutes." 

_"Okay. That's not too bad. Chan messaged, he just picked up Changbin and they're on the way to pick up Chan's friends so we're not too behind. Just text us when you're done packing. We'll go grab some food and get gas and circle back around when you text."_

"That sounds perfect! Can you guys grab me a slushie? Tell Hyunjin I'll send him the money for both gas and slushie." 

Jisung knew Seungmin was probably just as frustrated as Hyunjin but he's dealt with Jisung and his shit since high school so he knew it was better to just accept it instead of fighting. 

There was a deep sigh. 

_"Raspberry or blueberry?"_

"Surprise me." Jisung said with a grin as he ended the call.

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


Much to Jisung's surprise, Chan actually _did_ have a hot friend that the rest of them didn't know. 

Well not anymore, since as soon as Hyunjin parked the car, Jisung pushed the door open and fell out onto the ground, legs feeling like jelly from sitting in the same spot for four hours and that's when he saw Chan's really _, really_ hot friend, resting his back on the passenger's side door of Chan's car, along with the other three boys standing around the car talking, looking right back at Jisung. 

"Aye, you drinking before noon again Jisung?" Changbin teased and Jisung didn't even react, too taken aback by how intensely Chan's hot friend was looking at him, he barely even heard Hyunjin getting out of the car and jumping right into a rant about _'how fucking slow and stupid Jisung is to have packed last minute'._

Chan's hot friend, which Jisung couldn't believe he was referring to him as, had jet black hair, that much was obvious. It was the darkest shade Jisung saw on the boy from where he was with his hands and knees in the dirt. They were basically wearing the same thing, muscle shirts and sweats. Except Jisung's shirt had wider openings where his sides and stomach were practically all exposed and the boy was wearing a tighter muscle shirt that Jisung had a hard time guessing what colour could be. The shade being a pigment he hadn't seen frequently. Maybe it was what the internet called 'tie dyed'? The boy also had on Vans, compared to Jisung's converse, the Vans symbol standing out on the boy's right foot that was leaning sideways to put weight into it to balance his back on Chan's car. 

They were dressed so similar but Jisung couldn't help but notice how insanely attractive the other was. 

"You gonna keep staring at me or get off the ground and tell me your name?" 

The boy was smirking. 

Jisung had never been grateful for the Universe ever in his life, but he might have thanked it a little bit in that moment for their grey spectrum of colours because Jisung felt his cheeks burning and he could only imagine how red his cheeks were to those who could see them. 

He scrambled to his feet, brushing on his sweats and saw the boy push himself off the car, walking his way. 

"Han Jisung." 

"Lee Minho. Thanks for staring, it really boosted my ego there." Minho lifted his eyebrow with a cocky expression on his face, almost like he was challenging Jisung to say something flirty back. 

Jisung loved a challenge. 

"Who am I to deny such beauty standing before me?" 

Minho sputtered, taken aback by Jisung actually playing along. His eyes furrowed and he blinked, momentarily looking like he'd been frozen in place before he grinned.

"You're witty, I like that. I think you and I are going to have some fun here, Han." 

Jisung smiled, hearing Chan call everyone to get their bags while he went to go check in and get the key to their cabin. 

"You might just be right, Lee." 

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


Jisung met Chan's other friend, Jeongin, five minutes later when they were walking up the hill to their cabin. Jisung had been the first to complain that _"holy fuck why does it feel like I'm walking up a mountain?"_ to which Jeongin, who had been walking beside him, agreed and spoke up _"really though Chan hyung, when do we get to the cabin? This is getting ridiculous."_

Chan's only acknowledgement was a brief glance over his shoulder and a mumble of "Seungmin picked the cabin furthest away from the main campsite and where we parked was the closest cars can get." 

"Sounds like it's Seungmin's fault that we're about to die of exhaustion in a forest then." Jisung muttered to Jeongin, carefully aiming to kick a rock with his shoe, watching it hit the back of Hyunjin's bare ankle who yelped in pain, turning around and giving Jisung the middle finger. _Success_. 

"Clearly the only obvious answer is that we spike his food and drag him into the deep woods in the middle of the night as payback." 

Jisung looked at Jeongin in amazement. "Wow, where have you been all my life?" 

"Oh god, the trouble makers are bonding. We're all fucked." Changbin looked over his shoulder, groaning at the two.

"Why is Jeongin a trouble maker?" Seungmin asked curiously as he huffed, fixing his bags over his shoulder. 

"Minho kicked me out of the front seat with Chan when we picked him up so I was stuck for four hours in the back with Jeongin. Trust me, he's a trouble maker." 

"I told you I need to sit up front because I have car sickness!" Minho protested, frowning at Changbin. 

"And I had to sit with Hell's Second Spawn for four hours. You're not special, Minho!" 

Everyone laughed, except Jisung and Jeongin who exchanged devilish grins. 

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


Even after half a day at the camp, Minho and Jeongin seemed to fit into the group and their friend dynamics as if they had always been part of it. 

As soon as they reached the cabin, the boys threw the bags in the centre of the floor and broke off exploring the small cabin and land around the property that was all theirs for a whole month. 

Minho and Seungmin were the first to part from the group and sit outside in the grass, diving into an hour long conversation of their similar medical degrees and interest in medicine. 

Later, Jisung and Jeongin had spent half the evening chasing after Seungmin while they waited for the sun set. 

"Why do you keep following me? Leave me the fuck alone!" Seungmin had yelled as he took off for the fourth time that night, this time running across the grass to avoid Jeongin who was hot on his tail. 

"Payback is a bitch Minnie!" Jisung was laughing so hard he couldn't continue to run, instead settling for recording them on his phone. 

As the sun had set, Chan and Felix made a fire while the others grabbed marshmallows and sticks to roast them over the fire with. Except Minho, who said he didn't like marshmallows and had taken out his phone, and Changbin being as nosy as ever, had taken a peek at the boy's phone when he sat down on the log next to him and Minho scooted closer to him, offering him a view of the screen, making Changbin grin and despite their initial bickering earlier in the day, they seemed to get along excellently as they'd been pressed at the hip ever seen the fire started, watching something on Minho's phone in a comfortable silence.

Once the fire was in full swing, Felix, Seungmin, and Hyunjin seemed to connect with Jeongin instantly, their personalities hitting it off perfectly as they were singing and dramatically dancing to a girl group song that Chan had produced that Seungmin had blasting from his phone, their laughter echoing throughout the woods. 

Chan bumped his shoulder into Jisung's as he sat down beside him on the log, handing him some marshmallows and a stick. 

"Have the rest, I just emptied the last bag of marshmallows. Don't tell the others, but I forgot to bring more." 

Jisung took them with a grin and a quiet _'thank you'_ and pushed the three marshmallows down on the tip of the stick and held it above the fire, his eyes watching the crackling carefully. 

"This is nice, don't you think?" Chan asked him a few moments later. "I'm glad everyone gets along so well, it was my biggest worry." 

Jisung looked up from the fire to see his friend was watching the others like he'd just done minutes ago. 

Now, Minho was laughing at his phone and Changbin was rolling his eyes, pointing at the screen before hitting it to replay whatever was playing on the screen and the four younger boys had quieted down, all seeming to have melted into a big cuddling pile with Seungmin throwing his entire body weight on top of Felix who immediately grinned, wrapping his arms around the boy as he was laying his head on Hyunjin's lap where Jeongin's head already was, causing the youngest declare _"Felix just cracked my skull open, I think I'm about to bleed out! Seungminnie, save me!"_ making Hyunjin laugh, proceeding to try and braid Felix's and Jeongin's hair together without their knowledge. 

"Yeah, yeah it is." Jisung finally answered, taking his stick away from the fire as his marshmallows were just starting to darken but were still nice and soft. "I'm really happy we were able to do this." 

"Me too. Hear anything back from JYP yet?" 

Jisung shook his head. "No, but I'm trying not to dwell on it. I have my degree so that's half the battle done. I'll deal with the internship when we're back in Seoul. I just want to enjoy some time away from all that stress. I think it's going to be a fun month." 

"Same." Chan grinned and stole one of Jisung's marshmallows off, popping it in his mouth, almost choking as he laughed when Jisung began shouting _"Thief! Thief! Thief!"_ which caught the attention of the rest of the group. 

"Get 'em Changbin!" Seungmin's voice called out and next thing Jisung knew, he had Changbin racing at him from the left and Seungmin across the fire pit, dead set on getting the last marshmallows. 

Jisung let out a scream as Changbin knocked him off the log when he dived for him, and Jisung threw his stick, marshmallows and all, into the fire and Seungmin fell to his knees in defeat, cursing up the sky about the lost snacks, everyone around the fire pit erupting in howling laughter. 

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


"I'm not sleeping in the same room as Changbin again. He snores like a fucking animal and I didn't sleep a wink all night." Seungmin exclaimed the next morning, jolting Jisung awake from his makeshift bed on the couch. 

"Fuck you, I don't snore that loudly!" 

"I hate to be the one to break it to you, but yes, yes you do." 

The eight boys had divided the three rooms of the cabin in a two per room (except Jeongin and Felix who had gotten so drunk they'd passed out in the middle of the kitchen floor together) situation with someone sleeping on the couch every night by making rock paper scissors. 

Jisung sucked at the game clearly, losing the first round and spent the night on a hard couch with ten blankets all around him to create as much paddling as possible. 

"You should be so blessed to have only had to deal with Changbin and his snoring." Chan sighed, hand coming up to hold his temple. "I had Felix and Jeongin trying to sneak into mine and Hyunjin's room at 3am and cuddle me because they'd woken up still drunk. I tried to pass them off on Hyunjin since he'd never pass up a good cuddle but trying to wake him up is impossible. The guy sleeps like the dead, even the two drunks couldn't wake him."

Hyunjin grinned, sitting next to Chan, and raising his glass of milk to Felix and Jeongin who just groaned at the opposite side of the table, too hungover to even speak. 

"Sounds rough, I slept better than I have in weeks." Minho commented, joining the others after his shower and flopped down on the couch, sitting right on Jisung's feet and flicked his wet hair on the boy's exposed legs who frowned, freeing one of his legs to kick Minho's thigh and wiped his legs with one of the many blankets below him. 

"Mess off." 

"Who even wears shorts while they sleep? How aren't you cold at night?" Minho questioned. 

"Uh, a lot of people do? Especially since it's June?" 

"I don't believe you." 

"If you're going to sit here and tell me you're so cold at night in June that you wear thick pyjama pants, I don't think we can be friends." 

Minho dramatically pushed out his lips into a pout before getting off the couch. "Guess I won't say a thing then. What a shame too, I was just starting to like you, Han." 

Jisung laughed, tugging at Minho's shirt as he passed by him and pulled him down. "Oh shit, I didn't think this through." Jisung gasped as Minho dropped all his weight on top of Jisung's poor chest and ribs, snickering as he stared down at Jisung. "Lix, Seungmin, anybody, help me!" 

"No one can save you now, babe." Minho teased and Jisung raised an eyebrow at the sudden nickname but didn't push it. 

"Get off of me and I'll do anything you want." 

"Anything?" Minho's smile was a bit unreadable for Jisung but luckily he didn't have time to think too much as Changbin walked past the couch and snorted when he saw the pair. 

"Crush him to death and I'll give you 50 bucks, Minho."

 _Alright_ , either Jisung had shit friends or just the worst luck ever. 

It was probably a mixture of both right now. 

Changbin laughed loudly when Minho lifted himself up only to flop his weight back down and Jisung began to laugh hysterically as he struggled for air. 

"Hang out with me today." Minho whispered as he raised his body up the next moment, giving Jisung air. 

Jisung had tears in his eyes from laughing too hard so it took him a second to clue in to the fact that Minho was looking at him with almost a nervous expression. 

Well that was kind of _really fucking cute_.

"Huh?" 

"You said you'd do anything if I get up, so hang out with me. I wanna learn about you away from the others." 

"Shit Lee, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you want to get me away from everyone else so you can either kill me or hook up with me." 

"Well I at least _try_ to make an effort to get to know someone before I get them to fuck me in the woods." 

Jisung choked on his air then and Minho got up, laughing as he sat back on heels, one hand on his one of his _really hot muscular and thick thighs Jisung was just noticing for the first time what the fuck_ as he was pulled up from laying the couch so the boy would stop coughing. 

"Okay you two, enough of that before Jisung ends up needing a hospital." Chan chuckled, motioning for everyone to gather around the table. "We have to find a new solution to our sleeping situation now that Felix and Jeongin will need to sleep somewhere other than the kitchen floor tonight." 

Minho swung one leg over the back end of the couch, getting off it but Jisung grabbed his left ankle, stopping the boy's movements so he was basically straddling the top of the couch and if Jisung wasn't so affected by what Minho had said less than a minute ago, he'd probably have laughed at the sight in front of him. 

"Okay." He said, looking at Minho who clearly didn't understand as his eyebrows lifted in confusion. 

"Okay?" 

"We can hang out later. I wanna get to know you too." Jisung whispered, letting go of Minho's ankle as he watched the boy flash him a small smile, nodding before he swung his other leg off the couch and went to join everyone else in the kitchen, Jisung following a moment later, not giving himself time to wonder why his hand was so warm that it felt like he had burnt it after he touched Minho's ankle. 

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


The 'solution' to their sleeping situation was to make another game, but this one made the wins sweeter and losses that much more painful. 

They'd continue to play rock, paper, scissors to see who would sleep in what rooms at night, but now, once it was down to two people, it would become a battle of who got the couch for the night, and who got to sleep outside in a tent. 

"I brought a tent with me just in case we needed it and I guess this is the perfect use of it. Whoever loses the game is will have to sleep outside in the tent, that way we all have a place to sleep. Six sharing rooms, one on the couch, and one outside." Chan had explained an hour later after the tent was set up and everyone took turns taking a peek inside. 

It had space for maybe two people, three if they were basically on top of each other. But when he gave a test of how the ground was to sleep on and when he felt his back immediately scream at him from how hard and rocky the ground was without any blankets, Jisung was suddenly very thankful for the old couch back inside the cabin. 

"Except if it rains, then you can bring a blanket and pillow inside and sleep on the floor by the couch. Sound like a plan?" 

The boys all agreed to accept the rules of the game and spit some playful insults to each other, except Changbin who hadn't spoken once other than to say yes to the game until he mumbled _"I have a hard time sleeping alone these days though."_ and he said it so quietly that nobody else heard him except Jisung since he was standing right beside him, and Felix, who seemed to have the best hearing going since he was on the opposite side of the table and his head immediately quirked up when Changbin spoke, sad eyes finding the other's and Changbin bit his lip, breaking their eye contact and was the first one to get up and leave the room. 

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


"What's your favourite colour?" Minho asked Jisung twenty minutes later when the two were walking through one of the campsite's many trails. They'd broken away from the group shortly after Changbin had left, claiming he was _"going on a walk down to the docks"_ and the others decided to alternate between playing volleyball and soccer outside with some of the stuff Seungmin brought along for the trip. 

"Really? That's the best you can do?" Jisung laughed at him, shaking his head. "What a horrible fucking question, we can't even see colours." 

Minho rolled his eyes up to the sky. "How about this, muscle fibre is constructed of bundles of small long organelles called what?" 

Jisung stopped dead in his tracks and it took Minho five more steps before Jisung wasn't next to him anymore and he turned around, looking at the boy expectantly. 

"Black. My favourite colour is black. Not because it's one of the only shades I can see, but because it's the only colour that every person can see no matter what. And I take comfort in that. It's my comfort colour." Jisung answered Minho's original question as he caught up to the boy who let out a little chuckle, nodding as he pulled Jisung down another trail. 

"You wouldn't have known the answer to my other question anyways." Minho laughed a few minutes later. 

"I barely have a clue as to what you even asked. Do you even know what the answer was?" 

"Myofibrils."

"How do you know that?" Jisung knew he didn't know how to repeat the word out of his own mouth, he would probably completely butcher the word and embarrass himself in front of Minho which really, Jisung had no problem with but he'd already done it so many times within a day of knowing the guy so he just wanted a break. 

"I'm a med student studying veterinary science and medicines. I've spent the past five years learning about animals and how their bodies function and react to almost anything." Minho explained before the boys found a break in the heavy wooded trails and came across a small opening hidden behind a few trees that they pushed aside to reveal a sandy spot, a couple feet from the lake. Minho sat down on the sand, instantly looking up at Jisung with a flirty look in his eyes. "And I already know everything there is to know about the human body." 

_Fuck_ , why did words like that coming from Minho make Jisung's head spin. 

"Oh I'm sure you do." Jisung brushed it off with a playful roll of his eyes and sat down next to Minho, looking out at the lake. 

He wondered if watching the grey ripples in the colourless water made Minho as calm as it made Jisung. 

"So you want to be a vet?" 

"Something like that, yeah. I'm working at a wildlife sanctuary right now on a 18 month internship in order to graduate. And I like helping care for the injured animals, it's really fulfilling. I'd really like to stay there full time once I finish med school in two years. They let me take the time off for this trip because I've been doing 13 hour shifts almost every day for the last six weeks straight now, so they said I deserved some time to relax, I'm thankful they care."

"Wow." Jisung was intrigued by Minho's career choice and wanted to hear more but a question popped into his head. "Wait, on the way here, Seungmin said Chan mentioned to him that you two lived together in University? But if you're in med school, you'd be going to the campus that Seungmin is at, and that's like thirty minutes away from Seoul's Arts University." 

"I actually went there in freshman year." Minho cringed and Jisung worried he'd made a mistake in asking. "But I um, well– I dropped out." 

"Shit, I'm sorry I didn't mean to pry." 

"You're nosy, that's for sure." Minho smiled, giving Jisung's leg a pat before he laid down in the sand, he squinted up at the sun before turning his head to look at Jisung. "But it's really cute, kinda makes me wanna tell you my whole life story." 

_Oh_. 

"Yeah?" Jisung grinned then, smile stretching across his whole face as he moved closer to the boy, sitting cross legged. His knees rested by Minho's ribs and hips and the boy automatically raised his right arm to rest his hand on Jisung's knee that was touching his rib. 

"Yeah." 

"Well, the floor is yours Lee. Take it away." 

Minho hummed, rubbing his thumb across Jisung's bare knee, drawing circles into his skin. "When I was nineteen, I was studying dance at the Arts University. I had a dream of wanting to become a professional dancer. But halfway through the year, I was pulling another one of my famous all-nighters in the dance studio, practising my solo for a dance competition coming up and I– I should've stopped and went back to my dorm to sleep, or at least taken a break… But I didn't. And it was probably four in the morning by the time I started seeing stars 'cause I was beyond exhausted. I tried to do a jump that was in the choreo that I was already having trouble with prior to that night so I definitely shouldn't have attempted it but I did and since I was so tired, my arms didn't have enough strength to hold me up right so I ended up landing on my leg wrong and crashed down on the floor and I blacked out." 

"Holy fuck, Minho." Jisung's automatic instincts kicked in and without a thought, he took Minho's hand in his own to hold. Minho seemed surprised for a second before Jisung laced their fingers together and Minho bit his lip, biting back a smile, looking up at the sky and away from Jisung. 

"I guess it was really bad. My teacher ended up finding me a couple hours later still lying unconscious on the floor with my leg swelling badly. I didn't wake up for almost 14 hours and they thought I was in a coma or something but the doctor said it was because I pushed myself too far that my body just gave up on me and that I wasn't going to wake up until I finally got the rest I needed, whether I actually wanted it or not. So when I woke up, I was in a hospital bed with my whole right leg extended halfway in the air with a huge cast on it going up to almost my thigh. Turns out, I'd broken my tibia and really fucked everything else up to my femur. I think the doctor said over ten bones had damaged tissue, but I was really high on the meds they gave me so that part's a bit fuzzy." Minho joked and Jisung smiled for a moment but concern came back over his face again when Minho spoke again.

"The doctor said I'd have to leave the cast on for five months and not even attempt to dance for at least a year and a half after that. I was so angry, more at myself than anyone else. The nurses had said I was lucky that I'd even still be able to walk normally in a few months but I felt like they were ripping my dream away from me when they said I couldn't dance. I felt so fucking helpless." Minho voice was shaky, and he paused, teeth sinking into his bottom lip as his eyes were darting around up at the sky and Jisung could tell the story was hard for Minho to share so he just squeezed Minho's hand tightly in his own and put his other hand on top of theirs that were already intertwined to show he was there and ready whenever Minho could continue. 

Minho took a deep breath in and gave a quick squeeze to Jisung's hand, finally continuing. "I had to stay in the hospital for two more days and by the time I was discharged I made the decision to drop out and just take the freshman year off because what else could I do? So I went back home until I got my cast off. I'd met Chan early on into the freshman year since we shared one extra elective and we instantly clicked and hung out a lot. He actually came to visit me the morning before I checked out of the hospital. After I went home, we kept in touch almost every day and the following year when I told him I was switching campus' and going into med school, he said he was looking for a roommate to get a better rooming situation that was off University property, so we found a place in between both our schools and lived together for a few years." 

"So _that's_ why you like helping animals." Jisung said almost five minutes later after he'd finished processing everything Minho said. 

"Huh?" Minho leaned up off the sand, not even worried about the dirt that was probably on his back as he crossed his legs, sitting directly across from Jisung now so their knees were touching. 

Jisung never loosened his grip on Minho's hand, and Minho hadn't let go either. 

"You don't want them to feel as helpless as you did when your leg was broken. You were injured and felt alone, and I'm sure animals probably feel the same way when they're hurt. So you help animals to try and do your part in making them not so alone, and saving their lives is just a bonus on top of it all." 

Minho blinked a few times as if he was trying to make sense of what he'd just heard. "I– wow. I've never heard someone explain my career to me like that before." 

"Sorry I'm prying again aren't I–" 

"I didn't even realise that that was my reasoning for doing what I do but yes, that's exactly it." Minho grinned, his face completely lighting up despite Jisung only seeing the expression change to a lighter grey. He bet Minho's face was more beautiful in colour. "Wow. I'm a bit speechless Jisung." 

"I like to make my men weak." Jisung winked and Minho snorted, but tilted his head to the side as he looked at Jisung with half lidded eyes and a smirk. _Two can play at that game._

"I'm your man now, am I?" 

Oh, he's good. _Real_ good. 

Maybe even too good, since Jisung's cheek felt warm again and he stuttered out " _whatthefuck_ " in half a breath before he took his hand away from Minho's finally and broke eye contact. 

He didn't miss the way Minho's smirk seemed to grow as a result of Jisung's embarrassment. 

"Have you danced since you broke your leg a couple years ago?" 

"A bit here and there, but nothing serious. I still like dancing to let off some steam sometimes, which usually consists of me dancing around my apartment alone with blasting music until my hag of a neighbour bangs on her wall telling me to _'shut off the shit music'_."

Jisung laughed loudly, being able to clearly imagine what Minho had just described. "Show me some moves. I'll control the music, I have wonderful taste." 

"Oh Jesus no, I'm not dancing right now." 

"It doesn't have to be anything crazy. I just want to see what the master of dance was like before he came old and weak." 

Minho gasped. _Got him_. 

"How old are you Han?" 

"23." 

Minho punched his thigh, hard. Jisung just laughed, rubbing the skin as Minho frowned, grabbing both of Jisung's hands, lacing their fingers together as he used Jisung's own hands to punch his legs with every word he said. "I'm only two years older than you! That's not old." 

"Keep telling yourself that old man." 

Minho stopped his punches then and raised his eyebrow as he lifted his and Jisung's locked hands in the air slightly before pushing forward. Jisung let out a yelp when he felt himself falling backwards, holding onto Minho's hands tightly as the boy came forward with him when Jisung's back finally hit the ground. 

"You don't even call me hyung. I'm even younger than Chan and I don't know if I've ever heard you call him hyung either." 

"I do sometimes. The majority of us drop the honorifics most times, we're too lazy." Jisung felt Minho push his hands further down into the sand and he was becoming well aware of their situation now that Minho had him pretty much pinned down on the ground with his legs on either side of Jisung's, pressing the boy's hands above his head. 

"You want me to call you hyung?" 

"Maybe I do." 

Jisung could feel his body temperature rising. 

"Dance, then I'll call you whatever you want." Jisung heard the way his voice had dropped way lower than it normally was, probably an effect of how overwhelmed by heat he was starting to feel, but it wasn't nothing compared to the way Minho's eyes were locked on his. 

"Thought you liked to make your men weak?" Minho mumbled, squeezing Jisung's hands as he moved from sitting on Jisung's legs to his waist, legs hugging the sides of Jisung's thighs. "You don't look like you're in control here." 

Though Jisung might have felt like he was two seconds away from his body actually being lit on fire, he wasn't backing down anymore. He was over the shyness and embarrassment that he felt around Minho. 

But Jisung _really_ liked the heat. 

"Maybe I like a little bit of both." 

Minho's eyes flickered down to Jisung's lips before they locked eyes again and Jisung could've sworn he saw Minho's tongue dart out to wet his lips when Jisung tilted his head back slightly, exposing his neck as he looked at Minho with a challenging look and Minho smirked, huffing out a breath of air in Jisung's face before he went to lean down. 

"There you guys are! Seungmin and Changbin made lunch, I don't know how good the food is though since they kept fighting the entire time even when Hyunjinnie offered to help since he knows how to _actually_ cook– oh. What are you two doing covered in sand?" 

Jisung froze, eyes wide and their hands detached from each other as Minho jumped back in surprise. 

"Damn, we interrupting somethin' here?" 

Jisung got up as quick as he could, extending a hand to Minho who was still on the ground and the boy took the offer, being pulled up from the sand. He immediately began to brush off the sand and dirt from his clothes. 

Jisung met Hyunjin's eyes first as he and Jeongin came out of the woods. The boy's arms were crossed over his chest with a smirk on his face and he even dared to wiggle his eyebrows in a bit of dance. Jisung sent his friend a glare, and turned to Jeongin to answer. The younger boy seemed unbothered. Jisung was grateful. 

"I called him old. He pushed me over and I brought him down with me." 

"Well let's go, I'm starving and we've been trying to find you guys for like ten minutes." Jeongin immediately turned around and made his way back to the woods. 

"Yeah, c'mon Jisungie. Don't you want lunch? Unless you had something else in mind that you'd like _more_?" Hyunjin sent another smirk in Jisung's way and a head tilt that was obviously directed to the right of Jisung where Minho was standing before he rolled his eyes, following Jeongin. 

"I hate him. Sorry about Hyunjin." Jisung shook his head as he and Minho began to walk back into the woods, keeping plenty of distance between them and Jeongin and Hyunjin. 

"I think he's funny. Cocky and loud, but funny. He's definitely right about one thing though," Minho smiled at the ground before looking at Jisung, a playful look in his eyes. "I'm way better than lunch." 

Jisung ended up tripping over his own feet at that remark, sending him flying face first into a pile of dead leaves. 

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


"So you're into music production?" 

"Yeah it was my major at University. How'd you know?" Jisung asked minutes later after Minho had helped him pick what felt like a hundred leaves off his shirt and out of his hair.

Minho grinned. "You're not the only nosy one here, Han. It was a long drive to the campsite and about two hours in, I was sick of hearing Changbin and Jeongin fighting. So I started asking Chan about his other friends that would be on the trip and he told me stuff about all of you, and you sounded the most intriguing so Chan gave me his phone to search through pictures to look at the funny photos he has of you on there."

"He fucking _what?!_ " 

Minho's unique laughter echoed throughout the walking trail.

  
  


***

  
  


He had to sleep on the couch again. 

Jisung figured it was another way the Universe was saying _"fuck you Han Jisung"_ since he was out of the city and the Universe couldn't fuck with his regular routine right now. 

But he didn't even care about sleeping on the uncomfortable couch for the second night in a row. 

Actually, it didn't even bother him. 

Because Jisung beat Hyunjin in rock paper scissors that night. 

Minho and Changbin were going to be one room, Chan was able to stay in the room he'd slept in the night before, but with Seungmin this time and both boys looked forward to sleeping without distractions, leaving Jeongin and Felix to share the last room. 

Jisung shouted with Felix and Jeongin when he beat Hyunjin and avoided sleeping outside, shooting his fist, _the rock_ , in the air with glee as Hyunjin stared at his scissors in the middle of the air with a look of utter frustration. 

"Ha! Take that bitch!" Jisung had grinned, pointing at Hyunjin behind Felix's back who congratulated the boy in a hug. 

"I hope you get bug bites on that couch." Hyunjin had let his eyes roll long and heavy before grabbing his pillow and blankets and making his way outside with Chan following a couple moments later, making sure Hyunjin was comfortable enough in the tent. 

Jisung stayed up on his phone for a couple hours after everyone had shut the lights off and went to bed. He was honestly surprised with the amazing wifi speed the campsite provided in their cabins and wasted no time in checking his social medias and his emails, tucking a pillow under his chin as he settled to watch some romantic comedy that Felix had _highly_ recommended and even sent him the link to watch it, but not before he sent a few pictures to his parents that he had taken over the past two days because Jisung knew his parents would love the scenery and slipped in a few pictures of him and his friends. 

_'Wow! Your dad loves the log cabin, said it's a beautiful chestnut brown. Looks like you're having fun! Enjoy the time away from the busy city life Jisungie. We love you!!'_

Jisung paused his movie ten minutes later to send a quick _'love you too!'_ text back to his mother before he reread her text a couple of times, humming to himself. 

Chestnut brown.

 _Wonder what that looks like._

"I'm glad I'm not the only night owl tonight." 

Jisung swore, jumping in surprise and ripped his earbuds out of his ears, dropping his phone onto his chest as he turned his head around to see Minho walking along the back of the couch, resting his forearms on the top of it as he looked down at Jisung. 

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" 

"No, but clearly I'm really good at it since you're tripping and jumping almost every time I'm around you." 

Jisung rolled his eyes, avoiding the comment. "Why are you awake? Isn't like–" Jisung clicked his phone screen on. "It's 2:30 in the morning. Shouldn't you be fast asleep dreaming of sugar plums?" 

"Sugar plums?" Minho laughed softly, keeping his voice low to not wake the others. "Changbin's snoring. I could tune it out but I'm restless tonight, can't get comfy." 

"Maybe because you're wearing big thick pants during the hot summer nights." Jisung couldn't tell if Minho was actually pyjama pants, he could only see above the boy's chest, the rest being blocked by the couch but he must have been right seeing as Minho reached down and pinched his knee through the thin blanket Jisung had over him. 

"Ow, bitch!" Jisung whisper shouted, frowning as his eyebrows went down almost into his eyes, holding his knee dramatically into his chest as if he was in excruciating pain. 

Minho rolled his eyes, smiling at the boy's performance. "Why are you up?"

"Was watching a movie." 

"What movie?" 

"It's called _The Proposal_ , Felix said I should watch it. I just started but it seems good enough." 

"Hmm, can I join?" 

"You sure? I think it's like a rom-com." 

"What's the plot?" 

Jisung sat up, grabbing his phone and clicked out of the movie for a second to read the description on the site. "Uhh, let's see... a girl faces getting deported so she convinces her assistant to marry her in return for a promotion at their work but they go on a trip to his hometown and yanno, obviously they're gonna end up falling in love."

"Don't spoil the ending for me!" Minho shushed Jisung as he sat down on the couch, swatting the boy's arm. 

Jisung rolled his eyes and moved over next to Minho, their shoulders and legs touching as he pressed an earbud into his ear as he clicked _'Start from Beginning'_ on the movie. 

"Oh you don't have to restart it, I'm sure I can catch on." Minho said quickly, shaking his head. 

"I was only ten minutes in, I don't mind." Jisung shrugged, passing him the other earbud and Minho smiled slightly, nodding in thanks as he put the earbud in and both boys quieted down to watch the movie. 

They kept their commentary short and quiet for the most part throughout the movie, but Jisung ended up laughing a little too hard at a scene where the main character and an older lady were dancing around a campfire and singing _Get Low_ by Lil Jon and had to pause the movie in order to get his laughter under control.

"Shut up, you're too loud." Minho was laughing too, just at a more acceptable volume for three in the morning. 

It's not like the scene was completely hilarious, but the fact that a grown woman was singing _"to the wall, to the wall, till the sweat drop down my balls"_ while pitifully dancing around a fire made Jisung lose it.

"You're going to wake up one of the others and they're gonna kill us." Minho grinned, watching Jisung cover his face with his hands to try and quiet himself down. 

Minho really liked how Jisung looked when he was laughing, and _loved_ how he sounded. So even though Jisung was definitely being way too loud, Minho took out his earbud and pulled Jisung's out too, and before the other boy could pick up on what was happening, Minho pushed Jisung over to the left side of the couch where the boy's pillow was and began tickling the boy's sides. 

"What the fuck!" Jisung would've actually yelled if his hands hadn't been covering his mouth as laughter came bubbling up from his stomach as he tried to squirm away from him. 

Minho was smiling way too evilly as he climbed over the boy and trapped him to stop him from moving. Now letting his fingers run across Jisung's hips and sides, tickling anywhere and everywhere he could. 

"Minho! My stomach hurts, oh my god." Jisung kept laughing with a hand over his mouth, tears in his eyes as he felt like he was seeing stars from how dizzy his laughter was making him. "Fuck hyung, I'm gonna die." 

Minho froze. 

Jisung took the momentary pause of torture as a chance to grab Minho's wrists to make sure the boy didn't have another chance to tickle him, his laughter beginning to subside. 

"God, I think I just had a stroke." 

"You said hyung." 

"Huh?" Jisung's chest was rising and falling at a steady pace again. "Oh, yeah, I guess it must've slipped out. You should be thrilled, _hyungie_." 

Silence. 

"Damn, I think I just discovered your kink." 

Jisung took pride in the stunned expression he saw on Minho's face. 

Though he'd really only known Minho for two days (three now, if Jisung counted the fact that they were up in the early hours of their third day at the camp), he felt like he had known the boy for a lot longer as they just seemed to click instantly. There was never an awkward lull in getting to know Minho. It was like they'd skip the weird part of becoming friends with someone and went straight to having the time of their lives together. 

Minho also brought a sense of warmth whenever he was close to Jisung that the boy had never experienced before. And really, he wanted more of it. He kind of thought if Minho drowned him in warmth, Jisung would die with incredible happiness. 

But having Minho sitting on top of him for the second time in less than a day and the warmth beginning to consume his thoughts Jisung again, was close enough to that happiness. 

"We should finish the movie." He mumbled, staring up at Minho who nodded, not breaking eye contact other than to blink twice. 

"Yeah, we should." 

Neither boy moved. 

"Again? Why Universe, why me?" came a heavy sigh followed by a few footsteps and ironically, for the second time in less than a day, Minho went flying backwards on his ass. 

Jisung shot his body forward, staring at Minho from across the couch who was looking at Hyunjin, standing by the doorway with his phone as his flashlight. 

"I thought you had to sleep outside all night?" 

"I do, and actually, it's not bad. Sleeping surrounded by nature is kind of cool, and the silence is awesome." Hyunjin shrugged, using the light from his phone to make his way past the couch. "I just need to use the bathroom, you two can continue whatever it was that I just walked in on." 

"We were watching a movie." Minho said and Jisung nodded, reaching for his phone and earbuds that had fallen to the floor. 

"Nice, is that what people call sex these days?" 

"Hyunjin!" Jisung snapped his head in his friend's direction who only snorted before walking down the hall to the bathroom. 

"I hate him so much." Jisung sighed as Minho laughed, resting his back against the couch again. "I'd probably try to beat him up if he wasn't my manager and I know he'd cut me hours just for fun to piss me off." 

"Manager?" 

"Yeah, Hyunjin's the manager at the restaurant Felix and I work at." 

"You're _that_ close with your manager that he's friends with all your friends and you go on month long trips together?" Minho asked, clearly not understanding. 

Jisung smiled. "Felix and Hyunjin are in a dance club together. I used to tag along with Felix the odd night he'd go so that's how I met Hyunjin. In freshman year, one night after their practice was over, Felix and I were complaining about being poor and hated living in the college dorms and Hyunjin mentioned his cousin was looking for new staff at his restaurant and that he could probably put a good word in for us. So yeah, he's technically our manager but we were all friends before we started working together and we remind each other of that whenever we butt heads at work."

"Like that time you didn't talk to me for a week 'cause I sent you home mid shift after you purposely dropped a whole plate of chicken on two customers and dropped their barbecue sauce on the floor in front of their table and told them to _'lick it up with their tongues'_?" Hyunjin's voice entered the room again and Minho looked at Jisung in shock. 

"Jisung, you did not." 

"He did." Hyunjin answered for him and Jisung frowned at his friend. 

"They were a table of idiot pre-teens who were disrupting the entire restaurant with their shouting and two of the guys kept making comments every time I'd walk by or bring the rest of the table food so once they finally ordered something, I simply did what had to be done." Jisung sat back against his pillow, crossing his arms over his chest with a smirk. "And they've never stepped foot in the restaurant since." 

"Oh that's so worth being sent home early!" 

"I fucking know right!" Jisung and Minho high-fived, and Minho laughed when Jisung proceeded to stick his tongue out at Hyunjin who mocked his action back at him. 

"You're both ridiculous, clearly you two were made for each other." Hyunjin shook his head and made his way back outside while the other two boys continued to laugh, this time at a quiet volume as Jisung dove into more stories of outrageous things that he'd seen or had done at work over the past three years, their movie long forgotten. 

  
  


***

  
  


It was bound to happen at some point, Jisung saw it coming. He wasn't nearly as stupid as his friends liked to claim he was. 

He knew it was only a matter of time before Changbin and Felix's _issue_ resurfaced. 

He was actually surprised it had taken as long as a week and half into their camping trip to happen. 

Jisung just felt bad for Minho, the boy had no idea what can of worms he had opened when he'd walked past Felix and Jeongin sitting by the volleyball net across from the firepit. 

"Hey Felix, is that some sort of sign language?" Minho asked late into the afternoon, taking a second to stop walking as he watched Felix showing Jeongin actions with his hands and Jeongin was mirroring the gestures, with his face scrunched up in concentration. 

"It is, yeah! American Sign Language actually. I had a friend back in Australia who was hearing impaired, only had about 25% of his total hearing and he taught me some things. I got so intrigued by learning sign language that I actually asked my parents to sign me up for online classes to properly learn it." 

"That's so cool! Do you mind if I watch? Maybe you could show me a thing or two?" Minho asked a bit shyly but Felix jumped at the opportunity and from his seat a few feet away at the campfire, Jisung saw Felix's smile grow as he patted a spot on the grass next to him. 

Jisung couldn't see it, but he imagined Felix's face was glowing. 

The three boys sat on the grass, with Jeongin and Minho fixated on Felix's hands and trying their best to mirror what he'd do, bringing their hands to their face and learning how to show 'emotion' without actually communicating verbally. 

Jisung smiled, looking up from his phone again when he saw Minho's lips fall into a pout, clearly not understanding the next thing Felix was showing them and Felix noticed too because he began to explain it in a different way, his hands moving slower with a better explanation and Minho got it after that, Felix cheering for him by signing _'congratulations jackass'_ in ASL.

Jisung lifted his phone to cover his mouth, blocking the smile he couldn't seem to wipe off his face as he watched Minho's face lift up into a joyful expression and laugh along with Jeongin. 

"You're a good teacher Felix." 

"Thank you! I hope to actually become one."

"Oh really? Teaching ASL?" 

"Maybe! I studied Linguistics in University so I know a bunch of different languages and ways of communication. I'd like to be able to teach and help those who struggle learning a new language one day, like I did when I first moved to South Korea. I think I'd still be hopeless if I hadn't met Chan who helped me learn the culture here. You could basically say Chan's the reason why I'm so passionate about all this stuff."

"Pft, you're welcome." 

Felix laughed hearing Chan's cocky voice from, his smile never leaving his face until he looked over to see Chan and the rest of the boys by the fire pit, his eyes falling on one in particular that made his smile falter. 

Jisung followed Felix's eyes and saw him looking at Changbin who wasn't paying attention, head down as one of his sneakers moved around, creating lines in the dirt. 

"I can show you tons of stuff really, but Changbin could be able to help you out too, he knows it too." 

Changbin's foot stopped moving. 

"Really?" Minho asked, seemingly engrossed by the topic. 

Changbin lifted his head up, answering Minho quietly but he was looking at Felix. "Yeah, my mom's deaf." 

"Oh, wow. That must be extremely difficult sometimes, I can only imagine what it was like growing up." 

"It was hard, yeah." Changbin nodded, eyes never leaving Felix's. "I stopped trying to learn KSL in Junior High, it was too hard and I'd get too frustrated when she didn't understand what I was trying to say. But after I met Felix, he came over one day and started signing with my mom and she understood everything he was expressing so when I asked him about it, he said he knew ASL and that apparently my mom said she did too. After that, Felix started helping me in English and learning ASL. He was the best teacher I could've ever asked for since he put up with all my anger when I'd get frustrated learning it since I didn't know shit. Without him, I probably wouldn't have a proper relationship with my mom like I do now." Changbin was speaking in such a soft, honest voice that it made Felix gasped, shaking his head. 

"That's not true, you knew enough sign language for basic communication skills." 

"Maybe, 's nothing compared to what you showed me." Changbin's eyes flickered down to the ground for a second, his leg extended out in front of him and he looked back at Felix. "It's really all thanks to you." 

Jisung chewed on his bottom lip, watching as Felix swallowed a lump in his throat and he tore his eyes away, trying to put on a bright face as he got up off the grass. 

"I'm tired. Think I'll get some sleep before we eat supper in a bit." Felix accidentally made eye contact with Jisung when he was walking passed him and Jisung saw how hard his lip was trembling as he walked passed him. 

Everyone understood what was happened and just mumbled _'have a nice rest'_ or _'see ya in a bit Felix'_ , except Changbin, who seemed to notice how distraught Felix had become in his rushing off and went to go after him but Jisung beat him to it as he shot up from his chair, putting a hand on Changbin's shoulder to push him back into his chair. 

"He prefers to be alone unless he asks for someone to be with him. I've double checked with him before, don't worry." 

"I always worry about him." Changbin shot him glare when he ripped his shoulder away from Jisung's hand but when he looked up at the boy, Jisung saw nothing but pain and sorrow in his eyes. 

Though Jisung knew Changbin was the one to break it off with Felix, and that they'd mutually agreed to be friends, Jisung couldn't comprehend why when they both seemed to be hurting so much. Especially Changbin now, this was the first time Jisung had finally noticed just how destroyed and defeated Changbin was and it made Jisung wonder why exactly he broke up with Felix in the first place. 

"I'm sorry, hyung." 

  
  


***

  
  


The group ended up breaking off into different groups for the next couple of days, trying to avoid as much of the awkward tension in the air every time Felix and Changbin were near each other as they could. 

Felix tended to stick with Hyunjin and Jeongin. And anywhere Changbin went, he almost always had Seungmin or Chan beside him. 

Which left Jisung with the choice to filter a little bit in between both groups, or hang out with Minho. 

He chose the ladder option. 

Not that it was much of a change from before. Ever since the two had pulled an all-nighter talking, the night they attempted to watch _The Proposal_ (and finished it four days later when it was Minho's turn to spend a night on the couch), they'd been practically attached at the hip ever since then. 

They would eat all their meals next to each other, help when it was the other's turn to clean up after a meal, be on opposite teams when some of the boys wanted to a game of soccer or tag just so they could shout half-assed insults to one another as they ran by. But more often than that, they'd always ditch the games to sneak off together, exploring the walking trails of the campsite, finding more spots of sandy beaches that were hidden between the trees that quickly became a hideout for the two. A secret they kept from the others, along with how their hands always seemed to find the other's when they were alone. 

Jisung tried to pinpoint the exact moment he discovered he had a crush on Minho to the way he's heard people describe how they felt when they fall in love (minus the lack of colour on Jisung's part), and he'd say it was the night when he and Minho had snuck away from the group who were all finally together, Felix avoiding Changbin's direction like it didn't even exist, trying to stargaze with two pairs of binoculars that Hyunjin had brought along. 

"Hey." Minho had whispered, coming up behind Jisung, hand coming to the small of Jisung's back and Jisung had taken the binoculars away from his eyes, turning to Minho and smiled a bit. 

"Wanna try? It's actually fun once you get the hang of focusing the lenses. The night sky is really pretty out here away from all the smog in the city." 

Minho shook his head, a playful smile pulling at his lips as he took the binoculars from Jisung's hold, setting them on the picnic table and tugged at Jisung's hand, pulling him off the table. "No, I already have something pretty to look at. _C'mon_." 

Jisung had only smiled wider, letting himself be pulled away from the field, and down to the stairs that lead down to the cabin's private beach, not even looking back at the group. The boys had escaped like this many nights before without bringing attention to their departure to the other six boys. 

This time was no different. 

To narrow down when exactly Jisung knew he had a crush on Minho, it would have been an hour after the boys had left the group activity and were messing around, joking down by the beach and Jisung decided to go for a late night swim. Minho had said something so outright flirtatious, when Jisung was thigh deep into the water, pausing to slip his shirt off his head and throw it back onto the sand, that Jisung nearly punched him right in the face to wipe the smirk of the boy's face when he saw how embarrassed Jisung was. 

_"Shit Han, I know what we could have been doing yesterday when we were bored out of our minds, could've held that pretty little waist of yours all night, maybe even put a few marks on that stomach of yours."_

So to avoid possibly breaking the boy's nose with a punch, Jisung had done the next best thing. 

He ran back to Minho and pushed the boy into the water, fully clothed, dunking his head under water. 

The pure shock from what Jisung had just done on Minho's face when he resurfaced, lips forming in an 'O' as he pushed the hair covering his eyes off his forehead, had Jisung holding his stomach from laughing so hard in the middle of the water. 

"Sweatpants, I'm wearing sweatpants Jisung. Do you know how weird this feels to be chest deep in water and be fully clothed? And my ears! I think they're so full of water, it'll end up going straight to my brain." 

"Tragic, but hopefully the water will wash out all your nasty thoughts from there, Lee." Jisung snickered and Minho only took two seconds before his hands were on Jisung's waist and within another four seconds, Minho had dragged Jisung with him further out into the water where he then pushed Jisung, the boy going underwater as his feet no longer touched the bottom. 

Jisung had gasped as he popped back up to the surface, moving his hair out of his face with one hand as he helped himself float with the other, hand moving around in the water in the same rhythm his legs were going in. 

"I should've seen that coming." 

"You really should've." Minho laughed, nodding in agreement as he swam to Jisung, stopping in front of him and let himself bob around in the water, whole body practically underneath the water besides his nose and top of his face and blew a few bubbles with his mouth underwater towards Jisung who laughed, repeating the action. 

"I meant it earlier by the way." 

"Meant what?" 

Jisung waited and became confused when Minho didn't answer, meeting his eyes and was actually worried that something was around them in the water because there seemed to be genuine fear written across Minho's face as he looked at Jisung. 

Jisung moved closer to the boy, concern written on his face as he flicked Minho's arm under the water. Jisung felt the water move quickly in front of him, Minho reaching to grab his arm where Jisung had just touched, his eyes dancing with something that Jisung couldn't read. 

"Hey, Lee, you spacing out on me? What did you mean?" 

Whatever had freaked Minho out had seemingly passed as he blinked again and was met with a smile so soft, it made Jisung feel like his insides were twisting. 

"Minho?" 

"When you asked me if I wanted to look through the binoculars and I said that I had a better view to look at. I meant it."

And despite only seeing the world in grey scale, he was able to see the sparkle in Minho's eyes as he looked at Jisung, and only Jisung. 

"You're prettier than a night sky, Jisung. You glow like a shooting star." 

_There_. 

That was the moment Jisung knew.

He liked Minho. 

He liked him a lot. They were strong feelings that he'd never felt before. He felt every nerve in his body jolt every time Minho looked at him, every time he held his hand. 

And despite splashing Minho in the face with water to get out of the conversation, his heart not being able to handle and fully process the realisation he'd just come across and being dunked under the water by Minho a second later, Jisung had never felt so happy in his entire life. 

***

  
  


Hyunjin had spent the most nights in the tent. _Way_ _too many to be fair_ , he pointed out when they were about to play their nightly game, deciding who slept outside that night. 

"At least your nights have been clear." Jisung stated, remembering three nights ago when he had to sleep in the tent and was woken up in the middle of the night by rain beating the sides of his tent and soaking the ground underneath him, and therefore him as well. When he'd grabbed his pillow, blanket, and phone, he made his quick dash out of the tent into the rain where he slid on a patch of mud, losing his balance and fell over, making a walk of a shame into the cabin two minutes later where Minho raised his head up from the couch, took one look at Jisung's soaked figure with mud all over his clothes and face, and proceeded to wake up the entire cabin with his laughter. 

"Minho and Changbin are the only ones who haven't had to sleep out there, it's not fair." Hyunjin crossed his arms quickly, pouting but extended a hand out with everyone else, ready to play the game. 

And clearly, the Universe favoured Hyunjin in that moment, since Changbin lost to Felix that night, making him the tent sleeper for the night. 

Jisung didn't know which boy seemed more upset; Changbin or Felix. 

They both exchanged a quick look, Felix looking like he wanted to say something but Changbin broke eye contact first, turning to leave the room and grab his blankets out of the room he'd slept in the night before. 

"Hey, you okay?" Jisung went up to the boy a few minutes later who was the only one still in the kitchen, looking out passed the window to where the tent was, where Changbin was, a white glow of light coming from the tent as the boy had borrowed Jeongin's flashlight to provide a bit of a glow in the darkness to be able use his phone. 

"I– yeah I am, it's just, Jesus Christ." Felix's voice was uneasy, finally turning his gaze away from the window to focus on Jisung, forcing himself to smile. "I'm alright Jisungie." 

"Felix." Jisung simply said, reaching out a hand to grab his friend's hand, squeezing their hands together and Felix seemed to crumble at the gesture, tears gathering in his eyes. 

"It's the worst feeling you know? Losing the warmth of having someone sleep beside you every night for years, that feeling of security making the sleep seem so perfect, then one day that comfort is ripped away from you and then all you have is loneliness." Felix gave a returning squeeze to Jisung's hand. "I've felt that loneliness since Changbin moved out of my apartment. I've dealt with it every night for over a month since he's not there anymore, just me. But he had been staying at his mom's house since we broke up, and then here, he's had a roommate with him every night, someone else in the room so it wasn't so lonely. Except for tonight."

"Lix, it's not your fault he's out there–" 

"I know it's not. We played the game and I beat him. That's not why I'm upset. I'm upset because I know what he's experiencing for the first time out there, the loneliness, the pain." Felix's voice broke, a sob escaping past his lips and Jisung frowned, face falling and the boys wrapped their arms around each other. "And it's fucking breaking my heart all over again Jisung." 

"I'm sorry Felix." Jisung held the back of Felix's neck, rubbing circles into the skin as his friend cried quietly into his chest. They stayed like for a few minutes, just holding onto one another until the glow from Changbin's tent disappeared, the boy obviously trying to sleep, and Felix got out all his tears and got ready to sleep on the couch, apologising to Jisung ten times for ruining his shirt and the boy had only laughed, saying he'd tossed every shirt he owned into his suitcase before he left his apartment so he had plenty of others to use. 

"I think I'm just gonna sit here for a bit, calm myself down before I sleep." Felix smiled sadly at his friend, as he patted his pillow lightly before resting his back against it. 

Jisung took the hint, knowing his friend needed his space to breathe and come back to reality after having a big cry, and stepped back a few feet, going to turn down the hall. "Try and get some sleep, Lix." 

"I will." Felix nodded. "Thank you for staying with me while I cried. We haven't hung out much lately, but you're always being here for me when I need you most and I'm so thankful for that." 

Jisung paused, stepping back into the room for a minute, feeling the need to apologise even though he wasn't sure how genuine it was. "I'm sorry I haven't been around much." 

Felix only shook his head, waving Jisung off. "It's nice to see you having fun and doing things that have nothing to do with work, school, or an internship. It's good to see you invested in some _thing_ else." Felix added at the end, glancing over his shoulder at Jisung with a knowing look that Jisung didn't fully understand. 

"Night Felix." 

"Goodnight Jisungie, thanks again." 

  
  
  
  
  


When Jisung got up an hour later to check on Felix, wanting to make sure the boy finally fell asleep, Felix was nowhere to be seen on the couch, nor in the room. 

Jisung turned his attention to the window across the room in the kitchen, eyes landing on the white shade of light that was on in Changbin's tent. 

***

_"What the– Felix? What are you doing here?"_

_"I just– shut up alright?"_

_"Uh, okay?"_

_"No, fuck, ugh. Sorry, that's not what I meant."_

_"Are you okay?"_

_"Are you?"_

A pause. 

_"Is that why you came out here?"_

The question was met with silence.

_"...You didn't have to."_

_"I'm well aware. But I'm here now."_

_"Yeah, you are."_

_"Now push over. If I keep kneeling on the ground, it's going to leave a stain on my pants and if I get mud on my favourite pyjamas, I'll smother you in your sleep."_

A quick laugh, followed by some shuffling around. 

_"Thank you for doing this."_

_"Don't mention it."_

  
  


***

  
  


"Felix slept outside last night." Jisung told Minho around 10am the next morning, huddled up on Minho's bed together with their backs against the wall while they shared a plate of toast that Chan had brought in a couple minutes ago when he came to grab his bag on the bed on the opposite side of the room, getting a towel and a change of clothes to take a shower. 

"I thought it was Changbin's night to sleep outside?" Minho said with a mouth full of food and Jisung just gave him a look. "Oh fuck, it was. And Felix spent the night with him? How do you know?" 

"Felix had a rough night. I stayed with him for a while and when I got up later to check on him, he wasn't there but there was a brighter shade coming from Changbin's tent." 

"What do you think happened?" 

"Dunno, but Felix was worried about Changbin a lot last night so my guess is that he went to check on him and stuck around longer than he should've. I woke up around eight to the sound of the front door opening, I'm sure you can guess who was coming in." Jisung's eyebrows went up for a moment in a tell-tale kind of way and Minho simply shrugged. 

"Maybe they talked some stuff out, who knows, maybe whatever happened will be good for them." 

"Or make things worse." 

"Think a little more positive, will you?" 

"Negativity is more realistic when you think about it." 

"Wow, it's not even noon and you're already this depressing? Is this the kind of day we're going to have? Sad and shit?" 

"Welcome to real life." Jisung grinned, leaning in closer to Minho's ear to whisper. "This is what I'm like in the city, hyung." 

Minho nearly knocked their breakfast plate on the floor as he choked on his toast at the drop of the name in the ear, hitting his chest as the bread went down the wrong way, tears gathering in his eyes. 

Jisung laughed, grabbing the plate out of Minho's hold and stole the last piece of toast with jam on it. 

_Success_. 

***

  
  


"Woah, hey look. Holy _shit_ , look at Changbin's back." 

Minho sounded in awe as he hit Jisung's arm to get his attention and the boy opened his eyes and looked over at Minho who was sitting up, arms resting on his knees, staring out to the beach. 

Jisung raised his head off the beach towel and looked in the same direction to see Changbin, shirtless and in swim shorts, walking into the lake, carrying Hyunjin over his shoulder, who was screaming at the top of his lungs, before Changbin finally threw him into the water, fully clothed. Jisung smirked at the sight before he finally saw what Minho had mentioned and his eyes went wide.

When Jisung first met Changbin, he was actually a bit surprised the boy said he was a tattoo artist. He didn't think Changbin really fit the stereotypical 'look' to be one, the boy only seemed to have one tattoo on the right side of his neck of a small rose that looked like it was bleeding 'red' if the darker spots on Changbin's neck showed him anything. Jisung had only ever seen tattoo artists that were covered in tattoos themselves. 

Which was a whole other concept that Jisung found particularly strange. How could someone burn a colour into their skin that they couldn't even see? And how was the artist able to tell if they did a good job when they couldn't even see the work for what it actually was? 

Jisung had asked those exact questions to Felix that night after Changbin had left that when he was first training to become a tattoo artist, Changbin was taught a whole other way of seeing the grey scale colour spectrum and how to associate that with the actual real colours and that he actually did have another tattoo. 

"Really?" 

"Yeah, he has a giant back piece of a shipwreck that extends across his entire back and shoulder blades. It's actually super cool, the way the shading is done throughout the whole piece is amazing." 

Jisung had been blown away. "What the fuck? That is cool. Why a shipwreck?" 

Felix's expression softened. "His dad was a captain on a fishing boat. The boat and crew were lost at sea when Changbin was nine."

" _Oh_." 

"Yeah. He doesn't talk about it much, but he told me the piece is a reminder for him that his father will always be with him, no matter what ocean separates them." 

And despite only knowing Changbin for a few hours that day, Jisung had already found a new respect for him.

  
  
  


"I wonder what its meaning is, or if there's one." Minho rested back down on his towel beside Jisung, his feet digging into the sand, setting his sunglasses over his eyes.

"It has something to do with his dad. Felix said he doesn't talk about it much." Jisung mumbled, head still raised as his eyes wondered to Felix who was also watching Changbin and Hyunjin from his spot on the dock he was sitting on by himself, to the left of the beach.

"Oh, that makes sense. When I was rooming with Changbin the other night, he was showing me some sign language and he mentioned his dad passed away when he was young. The tattoo must be in memory of him." 

Jising hummed in agreement and to the bland response he was met with, Minho followed Jisung's eyes and understood why the boy had fallen so quiet.

"Why are you so worried about him?"

"I'm not worried." Jisung said defensively, having enough of the stain his neck was under and finally sat up, arms crossing over his chest.

Minho snorted, rolling his eyes. "Sure, okay. If you think so."

"I just have a bad feeling that Felix is going to get hurt again." 

Jisung saw Changbin turn his head and went to raise his arms up to avoid a splash of water that Hyunjin sent his way, his eyes landed in the direction of Felix and his arms froze when he saw that Felix was staring back at him, and Changbin ended up being nailed with water right in the face and mouth at the wrath of Hyunjin and the sight made Felix laugh loudly. Changbin blinked a few times, wiping his hair out of his face and spit out the water before he practically walked on water, trying to chase after Hyunjin but Jisung didn't miss the sight smile on Changbin's face as he turned back in Felix's direction once, seeing the boy still laughing.

"He's not over Changbin, that had to be why he checked on him last night. They only broke up a month ago and I don't think this trip is making it easier on Felix _or_ Changbin for that matter."

"I think it might actually be healthy for them." Minho said and Jisung whipped his head in the boy's direction, leaning his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose to look at Minho.

"How can you possibly say that?"

"Because my parents did the same thing." Minho explained, looking up at Jisung from the sand as he took his sunglasses off and placed them in his hair. 

Jisung didn't even know why they were wearing the glasses in the first place, it's not like the sun could hurt their vision, they couldn't even see the colour of each other's shirts let alone the colour and brightness of the sun. It was just a dull grey.

He supposed it was more of a fashion statement than anything. 

"How did they break up?" 

"Felix and Changbin? I don't know the whole story because Felix doesn't like talking about it. But from what he's let slip out over the past month, I guess Changbin didn't think they should continue seeing each other and Felix didn't understand where that was coming from and one thing led to another and they ended up fighting and finally Felix said _"you want to break up? Fine, we're over."_ and Changbin said _"good, took long enough."_ and moved out of Felix's place. A few days later they agreed to be friends, but I think that was only for the sake of our friend group being so intertwined and because we'd had this trip planned for a long time." 

"Ah. My parents broke up once when they were younger too, while in University. They said they blamed it on being too young for such a serious relationship and that they should grow as people before jumping into something so intense. But my dad said they were lying to each other back then, they were just scared because they loved each other so much and had never felt like that before. They'd dated for about two years before calling it quits and it took them three months to realise how much of a mistake it was. And maybe that's what's happening to Changbin."

"What exactly do you think is happening to him?"

"Changbin's dad passed away when he was young right? That causes some damage to a child. He's probably scared of being too attached to someone that could leave at any moment and never come back again."

"But they were dating for three years and Felix never left."

"It doesn't matter for some people how long they've been with someone. The fear of getting hurt is sometimes so strong that it can rip a person apart and they'll lash out to just get it over with. And that could have something to do with why Changbin broke up with Felix out of the blue one day. But I know you saw Changbin smiling when he saw Felix laughing just now, and I think that he's realising that no matter how badly he might've hurt Felix, he'll always love him."

Jisung understood Minho's point, but the boy was missing one important part. "But they lost their full spectrum when they broke up. When you fall out of love, the colours fade out into the grey scale again. Felix called me crying the night they broke up, he said that when Changbin slammed his apartment door, Felix's body went numb and when he blinked he couldn't see bright colours anymore, that they were fading and he had to close his eyes and was too scared to open them again because he didn't want it to be true."

"Changbin told me he still sees colours, and I kind of know for a fact that Felix still sees the colour spectrum too." 

"What the fuck did you just say?" 

"Remember the day Felix was showing Jeongin and I sign language and that he and Changbin kind of had a moment and Felix took off in the cabin? I was hangin' with Changbin after we ate that night and he seemed really down in the dumps so I asked him what was up and he told me he still sees colours." Minho muttered and Jisung's mouth fell open.

" _Huh?_ And what about Felix?"

"A few days before the trip, Chan texted Jeongin and I to give us a heads up that Felix and Changbin had broken up and I thought that shit it must absolutely fuckin' suck not being able to see how beautiful the world is anymore because you had a bad breakup, but when I met Felix, he commented on how cute my green and blue Vans were and I was stunned because how is that possible right? How can you fall out of love and still be able to see colours? That's unheard of. But then I read about it that night and found some articles of people saying that once you've fallen in love, the only way you will ever go back to seeing grey again is if you fall out of love with that person completely. But if the love is still there, just faded, your colours will fade as well and become pale. You'll be able to see the whole colour spectrum still but the colours are only 30% as strong."

"So they're still in love then?" Jisung asked, even though he clearly knew the answer and continued talking. "They're in love but because they broke up, they only see pale versions of colours. 

Minho nodded.

"Why wouldn't Felix tell me something like that?" Jisung wasn't hurt that Felix never told him, but he still would've liked to know everything his heartbroken friend was going through. Suddenly, Jisung had a better understanding as to why Felix went out to see Changbin in his tent the other night. 

"I don't know. But I don't think Felix and Changbin know the other can still see colours either."

"Do you think one person can see the paler spectrum and the other can see grey? Like is that a thing? One sided love?" Jisung was asking a genuine question but he saw something flicker in Minho's eyes as he looked at Jisung, his eyes filling with an unreadable emotion as he seemed like he was searching for something in Jisung's eyes until he let out a strained, dry laugh, looking away from Jisung.

"Yeah, I definitely think love can be one sided." 

  
  


***

  
  


"My major! What's my major!"

"Your– _What?_ " 

"What's my major?!" 

"Mary and–" Jisung pressed the headphones into his ears stronger, mind racing until he shouted. "Mary and the manger!" 

The room lit up with laughter, with Seungmin actually falling off the couch laughing so hard. 

Minho groaned, checking the timer in front of him. _20 seconds left._

"No! My major! What I'm studying in school!" Minho tried a different approach, his head spinning as a fast pace song came on shuffle next.

"Studying– studying school? _School?_ Your school!" Jisung's eyes were darting so quickly back and forth from Minho's mouth to his eyes trying to figure out what he was saying, he thought he might pass out. 

"Yes, better!" Minho shouted over the music in his ears. The song was practically deafening him. "My major. Why I'm at the sanctuary." Minho exaggerated all his pronunciations of the words he could. 

His eyes darted to the timer. 

"Your mayor– wait. Oh, the sanctuary!" 

"My major!" 

_Five seconds left._

"Major? _Your major?!"_ Jisung was screaming at this point and it hit him, his face lighting up, beginning to grin and Minho was grinning too, nodding fast. 

"Medicine!"

"Yes!" 

The timer started beeping. 

They won. Beating the other team by one point. 

Jisung threw the headphones off his ears the same time Minho did and they both turned to Felix and Hyunjin. 

"Suck on that!" Jisung flipped both his middle fingers up at his friends. 

" _Losers!_ " came from Minho in English, a hand making an _L_ on his forehead. 

"You should have never started teaching him English." Hyunjin pointed out to Felix, a frown in his face. 

"I'm a nice person, I do nice things. Sometimes these nice things usually come back to haunt me."

Hyunjin rolled his eyes, looking at Jisung. "Minho's sleeping outside one of these nights before the trip is over, Jisung. I'll drag his whole bed outside if I have to." 

"Yeah well it ain't gonna be tonight, now is it tent boy?" Jisung smirked, puckering his lips at Hyunjin who looked like he could commit murder.

"My apologies, I'll control my beast here." Felix gave Hyunjin a look before grabbing his hand and pulling the boy down the hall so they could get their pillows to take outside for the night. 

During tonight's game of rock paper scissors, Minho had lost the final game to Hyunjin and was going to have to sleep outside in the tent and of all nights since they'd arrived at the cabin, tonight was the worst to sleep outside (other than the night Jisung was met with a downpour of rain in the middle of the night). It had rained the entire morning and afternoon, finally stopping just an hour before sun set so the sun wasn't able to dry any of the grass and Minho would have to deal with that. 

And thinking of Minho laying on wet grass with only blankets saving him from the moisture and probably hundreds of mosquitoes around him, Jisung frowned. He couldn't let that happen so without even thinking, he yelled _"I challenge a rematch!"_ to which everyone replied with a confused _"huh?"_

"Hyunjin and Minho, pick a partner and they can have a rematch to see who sleeps outside tonight. If Minho loses again, he and whoever he picks will have to sleep outside. If Hyunjin loses, he has to do the same with whoever he picks. Nobody sleeps on the couch."

"More people are just suffering in the end." Hyunjin had said. 

"That's what makes it fun." Jisung had grinned. 

"Fine. But we play a different game, and since I'm technically the winner here and you're just trying to save Minho, I want to pick the game." 

"Name it." 

"The Whisper Challenge. We'll use Chan and Changbin's headphones they brought. They're expensive and sound proof, they'll work perfectly. And I want Felix. We play this game at the dance club all the time, there's no way we'll lose." Hyunjin threw an arm over Felix's shoulders who was leaning against the fridge, nodding with confidence. 

"Sounds like a plan." Jisung had turned to Minho. "Who do you want as your partner?" 

Minho shrugged, a smile on his lips. "You gonna be mad if I pick you?" 

Jisung grinned wider. "I would've been mad if you _hadn't_ picked me." 

  
  


***

  
  


"That was some brave knight in shining armour shit you pulled back there." Minho laughed, later down by the beach. 

Both boys had met around three in morning in the kitchen accidentally, Minho woke up craving food and Jisung apparently was two more snores away from killing Changbin in his sleep so he had to leave the room. And they looked beyond ridiculous at such an hour, with Minho digging in the drawers for a spoon, in a muscle shirt and pyjama pants that read _'pu$$y'_ all over them, with S' in the word being shown as dollar signs. ("It was a gag gift from one of my friends in University last year because I like cats." Minho had explained when Jisung had snorted when he first saw him.) And Jisung in his old baggy basketball shorts from high school, and his hair sticking up in almost every which way that was covered by the hoodie he pulled over his head when he'd gotten up minutes prior. 

So with a mouthful of corn flakes, Minho had turned to Jisung, smiling and suggested _"wanna go for a walk in the woods?"_ and Jisung took one look at the milk running down Minho's bottom lip and snorted with a _"let's go."_

"We don't even know what shining armour looks, the grey scale can only show a shine in the form of a light white speck." Jisung said matter of factly. 

"You really know how to ruin the beginnings of my flirting, don't you?" Minho snorted, nothing but laughter in his voice as he rolled his eyes as he let go of Jisung's hand. 

"I do. I like to ruin the mood, it's fun." Jisung grinned but went to grab Minho's hand back the second it left him but Minho began walking a bit faster, his hand moving further away so Jisung couldn't. 

"Hey Lee."

"Hey yourself Han." 

"It's midnight and we're in the woods alone, we should stay connected in case anything happens." Jisung tried and realised how stupid it sounded when Minho stopped at a cross roads in the trails and turned around to look at him, his arms crossed, with a cocky smile tugging at the side of his mouth. 

"We've been out here way later than this before. Just say you want to hold my hand."

"You mean your clammy hands? Gross. I'm just out here trying to protect us from a possible dangerous threat by making sure we're together at all times by holding onto each other, but if you're against it and don't want to, suit yourself." Jisung shrugged, biting his lip to refrain from smiling as he went down the trail to his right, almost debating whether he should run as a joke, just to see if Minho would follow him when he felt a strong grip on the right side of his hoodie, pulling him backwards until his back was pressed into a tree. Jisung was just beginning to say _"okay what in the fuck just happened?"_ when Minho's face closer and promptly shut Jisung up when he realised their lips were only a few centimetres apart and Minho's raised his left arm above Jisung's head on the tree, caging him in. 

"What if I'd prefer to hold onto each other like this." Jisung felt Minho's breath on his mouth and he gasped, letting out a puff of air when Minho's right hand slipped under Jisung's hoodie to hold his side, his fingers gripping Jisung's bare skin.

Jisung thought he saw stars from the shock waves that went through entire body. 

"That– that works too I suppose." 

Minho chuckled, his voice soft as he rubbed his thumb across Jisung's hip bone. "Am I reading the room right here?" 

_Oh fuck, was he ever._

But Jisung couldn't give in so easily. He cocked his head to the side, a sarcastic tone in his voice.

"Well, we're outside. So if you think you're able to read a room from a cabin that's probably over a hundred feet away, I'd say you might just be a genius Lee."

Minho tried to frown but Jisung saw the crinkles his skin made around his eyes as his face began to lift in a smile as he caught onto what Jisung was doing. 

"What game are you playing here?" 

Jisung felt warm, _too_ warm and he had to look away from Minho. This wasn't the same warmth he usually felt whenever Minho was around. It was different, hard to breath. _Intense_. His body felt like he was sweating when he wasn't actually and he felt his pulse in his fingertips. He tried to squeeze his right hand into a fist behind his back to lessen the feeling, it only made the feeling more powerful. 

"No game, just– just some straight facts. We are, in fact, outside." 

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think this is your way of telling me I am reading the room right." Minho pressed his hand into Jisung's side again, harder as he massaged the skin and blew a breath of air into Jisung's face so the boy would look at him. 

_God_ , why did Jisung feel like he was just thrown into a volcano when he looked at Minho again. The boy had leaned in further and Jisung felt like there were vines of rose bud needles inside his throat, tightening their grip so he was almost suffocating. 

"You seem pretty smart, Minho. You'd have to be to get into med school. So if you think something's right, it probably is." 

Minho grinned before he closed the gap between them, their eyes closing at the same time their lips met. Minho removed his left hand off the tree to cup Jisung's cheek and Jisung's hands went straight to the open sides of the boy's muscle shirt, fisting the material in his hands to keep himself grounded. His body felt like he was being electrified as he deepened their kiss, his tongue pushing passed Minho's lips who parted them almost a second after, tongue finding Jisung's easily. 

A bolt shot through Jisung's entire spine and simmered in his stomach and suddenly his hands couldn't stop grabbing at any exposed piece of skin they could find on Minho's body and Minho had pressed Jisung further against the tree, pushing a thigh between Jisung's legs as both his hands were now squeezing Jisung's hips hard enough to leave bruises. 

The Universe liked to fuck with Jisung. He knew it. Everything it did to him was so uniquely crafted just for him. So it shouldn't have surprised him that he fell in love in his own unique way. 

He fell in love with _pu$$y_ pyjama pants and milk running down a lip. He fell in love when there wasn't any grand gesture being done for him, nor when he was trying to confess anything. He just wanted to hold Minho's hand. He fell in love with when he least expected it. 

Jisung fell in love a minute after Minho first kissed him. He fell in love with Minho the second opened his eyes. 

Because when Minho pulled away from their kiss, his lungs screaming for air, he took a step back and looked at Jisung, their eyes locking and Jisung felt it hit him and _fuck_ , did it hit him hard. 

_Yellow._

Jisung's vision flashed and Minho's skin was instantly a beautiful golden tone, cheeks flushed with a shimmer of a blush, and the veins on his arms were so promptly striking. He felt like he was being blinded by the sun in the middle of the night from how powerful the shine coming Minho was and the warmth was wrapping itself around Jisung in the best way possible that he lunged forward, cupping Minho's neck to drag him back and Minho's tongue slid right back into his mouth when their lips connected. He squeezed his eyes closed tightly, praying the blinding colour would go away and the overwhelming heat would simmer down as Minho bit Jisung's lip gently before deepening their kiss again. Jisung let his tongue slide across Minho's, releasing a soft moan out of Minho and the boy pulled away in shock at his own reaction.

Jisung stepped back in surprise as well because the piercing heat of the warm colour was mostly gone now and that his eyes could adjust to the new surroundings but something in his chest still felt tight and when he looked back at Minho, he understood why his chest still hurt. 

His world was pale. 

Minho's pyjama pants were blue, but the pigment of the colour looked washed out. 

Faded. 

_"Yeah, I definitely think one sided love is possible."_

_Fuck_ , his heart hurt so bad. 

Jisung's breath was coming out short now. He needed to get out of his thoughts. 

Jisung couldn't believe this was happening. That he finally, _finally_ fell in love. 

But he fell in love with someone who didn't love him back. 

He felt like he was about to cry. 

"Jisung?" 

Jisung walked backwards, hands reaching back until he held the tree Minho had pushed him against only minutes prior and Jisung leaned his head against it, hands grabbing at the bark on the tree as he blinked rapidly, forcing away any tears that tried to fall.

He couldn't tell Minho. 

"You read the room right." Jisung joked, forcing out a laugh for his own sake to take his mind off the pain that was screaming inside in him. 

"I did." Minho chuckled with a nod and Jisung's insides were boiling, the smile that used to make him so happy just made his heart hurt now. 

He couldn't even be happy that he had fallen for Minho in that moment. The reality of seeing the faded colours was taking control of his thought process and it was too much. 

"We should head back." Jisung had to get away before he actually cried in front of Minho. 

"Yeah let's go. It's oddly cold out here." 

  
  


***

  
  


That was also something new. 

Being cold. 

Whenever Jisung was alone, he was cold. His body temperature seemed to drop so much that he woke up the next morning and actually had to change out of his basketball shorts and put a pair of sweatpants on, taking off his hoodie from the night prior only to put a heavier one on and he pulled the baggy hood over his head. 

If any of the boys were concerned by the fact that Jisung sat down at the table to eat breakfast wearing thick winter clothing in the middle of June, they didn't say anything, just sent him odd looks and Jisung ignored them. 

He could barely look at his friends, the washed out colours that danced around the room every time Jisung took his eyes off his cereal made him want to crawl in a dark hole. 

When Minho sat down next to him a few minutes later, Jisung tried his best to act normal, knowing that if anyone was going to pick up on his behaviour, it would be Minho. So he looked up from his bowl, shooting Minho a big smile but it was gone off his face as quick as it came when he saw what Minho was wearing. 

A tie dyed pink and yellow shirt. 

Yellow. 

The irony was that Minho probably had no idea what the colours were. 

Jisung hated irony. 

"You're dressed like you're about to walk into a snow storm." Minho laughed quietly at him and Jisung tried to laugh as well, he really did but when Minho pulled the hood off Jisung's head, Minho's fingers touched his forehead and Jisung's body jerked back as if it had just been lit on fire. 

So _this_ is what he had to look forward to from now on.

 _Great_. 

He'd get to freeze when he was alone and when Minho was around him, instead of a calming warmth touching Jisung's skin sweetly, he'd get to overheat and feel like his skin had just touched a hot oven element. 

"What's wrong?" Minho asked, the worry on his face making his eyebrows touch as he looked at Jisung and the boy had a brief thought that he'd chosen the wrong major in University. Maybe acting was his calling, from the way he was able to roll his eyes and bump his shoulder into Minho's, chuckling when he pointed his spoon in Minho's direction. 

"Nothing, your hands are just really fuckin' cold Lee." 

"Asshole." Minho replied with a laugh and stole Jisung's cereal bowl, raising the bowl to his mouth and tilted it as he drank the rest of Jisung's milk and cereal. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, placing the bowl back down on the table in front of Jisung, this time being empty and Jisung looked at Minho, stunned. 

The boy winked, getting up from the seat. "Thanks for the breakfast, Han." 

Jisung couldn't move. 

He just wanted to feel happy again. 

  
  


***

  
  


They never did talk about what happened. What they had said, the kisses, what Jisung had experienced, none of it. 

It took Jisung three days before he could get his thoughts under control again and not worry about the fact the Minho didn't love him back. 

Jisung had adjusted to seeing his new spectrum because really, it wasn't that different from what he was used to. Instead of seeing a grey shade, he'd seen a bland blue that might as well have been grey in the first place. 

Other than Jisung now constantly sleeping with sweatpants on and an extra blanket, nothing changed and once Jisung had pushed and pushed, and _pushed_ his emotions down, they were up to their old habits, with just adding one new thing. 

As soon as they were far enough away from everyone else, where no one could see or hear them, where could just be them, Minho would push Jisung against another tree to kiss him. Or they'd stumble down a trail with their lips locked until they would slip past the trees and into one of their secret hideouts where Jisung would straddle Minho's hips on the sand and kiss the daylights out of him. 

The next day after they shared their first kiss, when Jisung was letting his hands wander across Minho's skin while their tongues fought and Jisung ate up the breathy sounds that came from Minho's throat, the fiery burn of Minho's hands on his hips actually hurt. Jisung checked his skin three hours later when he was alone in the bathroom and he would've sworn there should've been burn marks on his body from the burning feeling of Minho's hands on his skin. 

But it soon became all he craved. 

Like now, when Jisung had Minho pressed against the sand once again, his mouth pressing kisses down Minho's jaw and neck lightly to not leave a mark and Minho was heavy breathing, his hands slid up Jisung's bare thighs (the boy always changed into shorts and the most exposing shirt he could now whenever he knew he could get Minho alone) and squeezed his hips for a moment before his hands kept sliding up past Jisung's muscle shirt and Minho trailed his hands up Jisung's spine slowly and Jisung felt his body actually spasm, the burn of Minho's hands was so harsh and yet so fucking _good_ , and Jisung let out a moan against Minho's neck. 

"You're sensitive. Hot." Minho whispered, holding Jisung's back muscles as the boy did everything in his power not to show how true Minho's statement actually was. 

"You have such a way with words, Lee." Jisung mumbled, pulling back from Minho's neck to look at the boy's flushed face. 

His blush was so pretty. Faded or not, Minho looked so blissful and content with Jisung on top of him that it almost didn't hurt Jisung anymore that he didn't love him. 

_Almost_. 

"Hmm, don't I?" Minho let out a low laugh, his hands leaving Jisung's skin as he balanced his elbows behind him to lift his body up slightly, tilting his head to the right, left side of his neck exposed and just begging for Jisung's lips. "I'd have better things to say but I can barely finish a thought in my mind, you're making me extremely weak right now." 

His eyes slowly met Jisung's and his eyes were so raw with a shine in them that wasn't fair. 

It wasn't fair that Minho could look at him like that and not affect him the way it did Jisung. It wasn't fair that his burning touch simmered on Jisung's skin hours after they'd returned to the group. 

"I finally make you weak, do I?" Jisung smirked, avoiding the way his heart seemed to skip a beat. It didn't mean anything, it was just their routine, their games. 

"You always have." 

It sounded like a confession, Jisung blinked in shock and his colours still looked the same, pale and to hide his disappointment, he surged forward, pressing his lips to Minho's and sighed when the boy kissed back instantly. 

It's just a game to Minho, a _challenge_. 

Jisung wished they'd never started playing this silly game of theirs. Maybe then he'd never have fallen for Minho, maybe then he wouldn't have to be trying to convince himself his feelings weren't real when it was so sickly obviously to him that they were. 

Jisung told himself he should break their kiss, his thoughts were starting to take over again that he'd tried for days to repress but instead, not even understanding why, he deepened their kiss, hands coming up to cup Minho's face as their tongues met again and Minho let out a soft sound. Jisung felt the boy smile around his lips. 

Maybe Jisung kissed Minho with so much passion because he wanted the boy to feel how he did. Maybe he wanted to see colours after all. He didn't want to see Minho's beautiful smile in a washed out tone. He'd never wanted to see colours so badly in his entire life than to see the beautiful glow of Minho's smile he'd seen when he saw yellow. 

Maybe Jisung kissed Minho with every ounce of his being because he just wanted Minho to love him back. 

  
  


***

The last night of their camping trip, Seungmin beat Minho in rock paper scissors to sleep on the couch. 

Everyone laughed when Seungmin lifted his 'scissors' in the air. 

Hyunjin shouted in excitement. 

Minho looked up from his 'paper' and met Jisung's eyes across the room where the boy was sitting on top of the kitchen table. 

_'Alone.'_ was all Minho mouthed yet Jisung understood perfectly. 

He made sure the other boys in the room weren't paying attention and saw they were all too preoccupied by hugging Seungmin, finally being the one to defeat Minho and make the boy sleep outside. 

Jisung's focus went back to Minho, staring back with a smug look on his face.

 _'Midnight.'_ Jisung mouthed back, eyebrow raised. 

Minho smirked, eyes bright with a nod before he turned away, joining the others in the living room, the other boys instantly eating him in their circle with shouts of _"how does it feel to finally lose!"_ and Hyunjin's comment of _"Mother Nature, please I beg of you, let it rain tonight!"_

Jisung wished he could tell Minho how beautiful his eyes were when they were shining for him. 

  
  


***

  
  


"Fuck off, I was about to go there!" 

"Yeah? Good. That's for beating me the past three games." Jisung flipped his opponent the middle finger, Changbin's face contorted into a scowl with his hand resting on the picnic table slowly becoming a fist. 

"Only you two would take playing checkers to a whole new level of competitiveness." Chan laughed as he sat down next to Changbin. 

"Changbinnie hates to lose." Jisung giggled and made his red checker piece jump over Changbin's last black one of the board and he snatched the piece into his hand, completely gloating and shook his head around in circles. 

"Of course I hate to lose. I don't play games to lose, I play to win." Changbin stated, frowning at Jisung whose hands were in the air, waving side to side.

"Doesn't it feel good to lose though hyung?" Jisung teased, making a kissy face with his lips. "Bet it feels _so_ good to let someone kick your fucking ass in a game." 

Changbin raised his fist, pointing in Jisung's direction with his opposite hand. "Oh fuck, Chan, you gotta do something about his cocky attitude right now before I just nail him." 

Chan patted his friend on the back, laughing at Jisung's actions and Changbin's reactions to them and reset the checker board. 

"How about this, I'll play Jisung and if he beats me, he can be as cocky as he wants the rest of the time you guys play. And if I beat him, he has to bow to you every time you beat him." 

Changbin and Jisung exchanged a look before Jisung turned back to Chan, grinning. 

"Sounds good to me, can't wait to kick your ass, Channie hyungie."

Changbin rolled his eyes at Jisung already sucking up to Chan. "I'm in. I can't wait to see him bow." 

  
  
  
  


Jisung did beat Chan three minutes later in their game of checkers, Jisung standing up and shouting he was the _"fucking master of checkers!"_ as Changbin banged his head off the table multiple times, not enough to hurt but hard enough to make a point, and Chan nearly fell backwards laughing so hard, hands grabbing the end of the table to hold himself upright. 

"We can hear Jisung screaming from inside the cabin, what the fuck is going on out here?" 

Changbin and Chan turned around to see Seungmin walking out of the cabin alongside Hyunjin who had an apron on, working on making a nice dinner with the help of Seungmin. 

"Jisung's an asshole, does that say enough?" Changbin mumbled, turning back around as the two boys come over to their table. 

"Yes it does." Seungmin snorted, sitting down next to Jisung who was just grinning from ear to ear. 

"It's a good thing Felix is still out hiking with Minho and Jeongin, him and Jisung on a team together is just horrible. I still have PTSD from last year's Christmas party at Hwang's. Who knew two people could take playing pool and turn it into a staff war?" Hyunjin waved his face over his face dramatically, resting his hip against the table, patting Changbin on the shoulder who continued to frown. 

"Changbin's a sore loser. I accept a loss right fine, I just accept winning better. Isn't that right baby?" Jisung mocked his friend, leaning over the table to pretend to want a kiss and Changbin pushed his face away, making a gagging sound and everyone laughed until one of their phone's started going off. 

"That can't be mine, I haven't been able to get a bar of service since we arrived." Changbin said, showing his phone's blank screen. 

"That's because you use a horrible phone company." Seungmin pointed out, and then looked at Jisung next to him and hit his shoulder lightly. "It's you, your phone screen is on in your pocket." 

Jisung reached behind him and pulled his phone out of his jeans pocket, eyes nearly popping out of his head as he showed his phone screen to Chan, hand beginning to shake. 

"That's his fucking number isn't it?" 

Chan smiled, nodding quickly. "That's him. Answer it." 

Jisung took a shaky breath in through his nose, accepting the call and held the phone to his ear. "Hello?" 

_"Good afternoon, is this Han Jisung?"_

"It is. May I ask who's speaking?" 

_"Hi Jisung, it's Park Jinyoung, Co-CEO of JYP Entertainment. Am I calling at an alright time? I wanted to discuss your internship application."_

Jisung covered his hand over his mouth for a second as he felt his heart pounding twenty times faster than it was five minutes ago and he grabbed Seungmin's hand, needing to hold onto something to keep him grounded. "Yeah this is a great time. I hope everything is correct on my papers." 

_"It's all correct, yes. Chan dropped it off to me before I left for vacation last month so I apologise it's taken me this long to reach out. But I would like to know if you're still interested in the internship for a music production position at JYP?"_

"Absolutely. It's definitely my dream career path." 

_"Excellent, I'm happy to hear that. I've reviewed your internship application and listened to your samples, as well as a few clips Chan sent me of work you've done with him in your free time and I have to say your style is unique. I'm impressed by it. So with that being said, I'd be happy to accept you for our six week internship. After that, I'm sure we can discuss further producing careers at JYP that might interest you."_

"That would be amazing, thank you so much!" Jisung tried to keep his voice calm but his eyes were getting watery with his friends looking at him so proudly, obviously being able to tell the phone call was going well. 

_"Let's have you start you working directly with Chan next week in his studio. I already called him and he agreed to take you in for the internship. I look forward to seeing you produce for us Jisung."_

"And I as well. Thank you again for this opportunity." Jisung ended the call, dropping his phone on the picnic table, hands coming to his cheeks as he stared down at his phone in disbelief. 

"So... How'd it go?" Seungmin nudged his shoulder and Jisung looked across the table, directly at Chan. 

"You sent him the music I helped you with?" 

"I gave you lyrics and you created an absolute masterpiece with it. It was some of your best work I've seen you produce. So when I passed along your application, I gave him a couple of CDs we burnt and I made sure to tell him you had complete musical control over them, I only wrote the lyrics." Chan smiled like a proud father. "I'm excited to work with you at JYP, Jisungie." 

"Thank you hyung." Jisung choked back a sob, hand coming to cover his mouth and the boys cheered with Seungmin jumping up and wrapping his arms around Jisung, squeezing the boy to pieces. 

"Who knew back in high school when you nearly blew yourself up in science class and I told you you looked too stupid to be left on your own that just a few years later you'd be going to work for one of the biggest music entertainment company's in Seoul!" 

"It's just a six week internship for now, Minnie, and move you're crushing me." Jisung patted the boy's arm with a bit of laughter and Seungmin released Jisung from the bone crushing hug and Jisung wiped some tears that were around his eyes. 

"Internship or not, Jisung, that's an awesome opportunity." Changbin smiled at him sincerely and Jisung mirrored his smile. 

"Thanks Changbinnie." 

Hyunjin took a more hands on approach like Seungmin had and ran around the table and threw his arms around Jisung, ruffling up his hair. "Congrats Jisungie! Once you know your internship hours at JYP, let me know and I'll make sure you still get enough shifts at work." 

Jisung laughed, fixing his hair when the boy let him go. "Thanks guys, really." 

  
  
  
  


Once they'd settled down, Jisung's heart rate and shaky hands returning to normal, Hyunjin and Seungmin dismissed themselves from the table having to go finish making supper for their last night at the cabin, now having a reason for it to be even more special to celebrate Jisung's internship. 

Changbin, Chan, and Jisung returned to playing a couple games of checkers but Jisung's heart wasn't really in the game anymore as he kept looking around the yard, trying to see if Minho had come back from his hike with Felix and Jeongin. 

He wanted to tell the boy his news and see the proud look at his face when he told him. 

But really, he just wanted to see Minho. 

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  


"Where you goin' Jisungie?" 

_Fuck you Universe. Fuck. You._

Jisung turned around, hand still on the doorknob as he looked at his roommate. 

"It's really warm in here. I'm just gonna pop outside for a second, go back to sleep Lix." 

"I'll turn the fan off. But maybe change your clothes? You look like you're wearing a snowsuit. I can't imagine that it's nice to sleep in." 

_Right_. His clothes. 

He'd been so cold when he came out of the shower earlier that he had to put on a sweater over top of the thick hoodie he was already wearing, and _yes,_ he knew he looked absolutely ridiculous, and had borrowed a pair of Minho's baggy sweatpants (the boy had only smirked when he stood in the doorway of the room he shared with Felix, handing them to Jisung two minutes after he'd texted Minho asking for them). 

"Uh– right." Jisung pulled the sweater over his head, tossing it towards his bed and readjusted his sweater. 

The moment the sweater hit the bed, Jisung's body temperature felt like it dropped thirty degrees. He visibly shivered and Felix's eyes went up in alertness. 

"Jisung, it's the last week of June and I just saw a chill run through you. What's going on? Do you have a cold?" 

Jisung should just tell him. 

Maybe he could just apologise to Minho for being five minutes late, explaining that he had to take a moment to tell Felix that he was in love with Minho but he knew the boy didn't feel the same way so he was experiencing freezing chills at night and getting near burns every time Minho touched him now as a result of the one sided love. 

_Yeah right_ , Jisung could have laughed at the insanity of the thought. Surely Minho wouldn't think he's crazy or anything. 

Then he thought of Felix and how the boy was still in love with Changbin, dealing with his own struggle and Jisung couldn't pile his problems on top of Felix like that right now. 

So he lied. 

Taking his hand off the door, completely facing Felix and looking him dead in the face and lying, fake smile and laughter and all. 

"Minho and I found a hidden sandy beach spot on the other side of the woods, it's near a different lake then the beach out by the cabin and there's baby ducks without a mother in one of the shallow parts of the lake, their mother must've abandoned them or got hurt because every time we go check on them, they're still alone so I've been bringing them bread. I forgot to bring them some earlier after supper so I have to now."

"You're going to feed ducklings at midnight?" 

"Yes." Jisung nodded, a fake smile plastered to his lips as he bounced back and forth on his heels. 

Felix just stared at him as if he couldn't believe what Jisung had just said, blinking at an unbelievably slow pace and simply said, "Okay." 

"Okay? Okay!" Jisung gave a quick wave, grabbing his shoes that were by the door in one hand and pulled onto the doorknob with the other, trying his best not to show how relieved he was to be leaving the room and clicked the door shut. Once he made it to the living room, he tiptoed past Seungmin's sleeping figure on the couch and opened the cabin's front door as quietly as he could and once he closed the door behind him, he paused, taking a deep breath. He bent down to roll the cuffs of his sweatpants up, tying up his converse shoes on his feet, and looked at the tent that was in the front yard that was pitch black, having no one inside it. Jisung couldn't stop the smile that came across his face as he took one more breath in and out, before he took off running down to the beach. 

  
  
  


***

  
  
  


"For a second there I really thought you weren't going to show." Minho got up off the sand, brushing off his pants and walked towards Jisung who was slowing his steps down, waiting for Minho to come to him. 

"Had to debate if I wanted to put up with you in the middle of the night again. You're kind of needy." Jisung had a stupid grin on his face when Minho got close enough that their chests were almost touching, rolling his eyes at Jisung's comment. 

"You act as if you didn't have your tongue down my throat in the bathroom a couple hours ago." 

Jisung huffed, remembering a few hours ago when he'd seen Minho walking past his room twenty minutes before supper, with clean clothes in his hands to wear after he showered and Jisung waited five minutes before turning to Felix saying _"Minho's gonna hate me but I gotta pee."_ and left his laughing friend to bang on the bathroom door.

  
  
  


"I was literally just about to turn the shower on." Minho said, opening the door a crack and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion when he saw Jisung standing there. 

"All of your clothes are still on." Jisung stated, eyeing Minho's track pants and t-shirt before meeting his eyes again and tilting his head to the side. "You should let me in." 

"And why is that?" 

"I got the producing internship. Park Jinyoung said after my term is over, we'll even discuss my future at JYP." Jisung announced quietly and Minho's eyes widened, a smile stretching across his entire face and opened the door, just enough for Jisung to slip into the room before he clicked the door shut again, locking it as Jisung's back hit the door, Minho's hands already on him.

Jisung only raised a suggestive eyebrow up after giving Minho the answer to his question and cupped his neck, crashing their lips together, Minho whispering against them softly. 

_"That's amazing, Jisung. I'm so fucking proud for you."_   
  
  
  
  


"Because you went on a dumb hike with Jeongin and Felix for five hours and I basically didn't see you all day, the last full day here. And I had important news to tell you!" 

"Ride back with Changbin and I tomorrow in Chan's car. Jeongin wants to go back in Hyunjin's so there's space for you. We can enjoy a four hour car ride together." Minho suggested and Jisung nodded quickly, loving the idea of spending more time with him which led Minho to take his turn to have a shit eating grin on his face, his hands lifting Jisung's shirt up so he could massage the bare skin of Jisung's hips slowly with his fingers. "Isn't this you totally being needy?" 

The sting of Minho's hands on his skin burnt away any remaining witty comebacks Jisung could have possibly said as he inhaled sharply when Minho pressed his thumb into the curve of Jisung's hip. 

"You suck." Was the best Jisung had in him to say before squeezing Minho's cheeks in one hand to finally pull him in closer, his lips sweetly connecting with Minho's, the other kissing him back instantly. 

The kiss didn't last long as Jisung was so hypersensitive to Minho's touch that he was the first to break away, letting his lips trail kisses down Minho's jaw and settled for a spot on his neck where he bit the skin gently. Jisung smirked against the boy's neck as he sucked on the skin and felt a tight hold of a hand grabbing his hair and lapped his tongue over the mark, loving the way Minho's breath hitched in his throat. 

It was the first time one of them had ever left a mark on the other. 

"Do you realise how hard that's going to be to cover up?" Minho grumbled, his hand releasing Jisung's hair as the boy pressed one sweet kiss to the bruise already forming on Minho's neck and smiled, all fear and nerves leaving his body for the night. 

It was his last night at the cabin before reality came crashing back onto Jisung and his mind had been nonstop for days now, racing with thoughts of what would happen between him and Minho and he always left with the feeling of pain. But with Minho looking at him right now, his eyes dilated in the night sky and his warmth enclosing on Jisung's lungs slowly but surely, Jisung wanted to forget all his worries, just for the night. 

He just wanted Minho. And he wanted Minho to want _him_ for the night. 

"Don't cover it up then." Jisung whispered and swore he heard Minho gasp, his eyes shooting up in shock for a second until he shot forward, tongue already meeting Jisung's before their lips were fully touching and he pressed himself against Jisung, groaning into the boy's mouth as Jisung rolled his hips forward, pushing their growing bulges against one another through their pants.

Jisung smirked, swallowing the boy's noises as he backed himself up against a tree, about to break away from their kiss to make a comment on Minho being loud when he felt a hand trail up his thigh to slide between them and touch the now obvious bulge over Jisung's pants and Jisung gasped, hearing a hum of delight from Minho against his lips until the boy began to kiss down Jisung's jaw, and Jisung's eyes fluttered shut at the feeling, fisting the sides of Minho's shirt when he sucked hard on the hollow of Jisung's throat, thumb rubbing the tip of Jisung's dick through his sweatpants. 

And Jisung fucking whimpered. 

He pushed Minho back suddenly, unbelievably shocked by his own reaction, cheeks feeling like they were on fire, and Minho was smirking as if he could see how badly Jisung's face was burning. 

"We'll wake up the whole campsite if you do that again, dumbass." 

"I think I'm okay with an audience watching us if you keep making noises like that." Minho's face was flushed, Jisung noticed, with a faint peach colour glowing on Minho's skin. 

"Shut up." Jisung rolled his eyes, laughing a bit. "I'm not dropping to my knees to put on a show for strangers."

"Maybe not you, but I could definitely drop to my knees right now." Minho mumbled as if he wasn't making the implication that was ringing in Jisung's head. 

"What's stopping you?" Jisung tilted his head to the side, a familiar challenging look in his eye. 

Minho's eyes filled with desire as he grabbed Jisung's hand and tugged it as he walked towards the path leading back to the cabin. "You want to go back to my tent?"

Minho wanted him. 

Jisung grinned, putting a passive aggressive expression on his face as he leaned close to the boy's ear to whisper, "Took you long enough to ask, hyung."

Minho let out a strained noise and practically took off in a run, tugging a laughing Jisung along with him into the woods. 

  
  
  


  
  


They stumbled into Minho's tent with their lips crashing together instantly, only breaking apart when Jisung lifted Minho's shirt up and over his head, throwing it down onto one of the blankets Minho had placed on the ground. Minho balanced an elbow behind him to hold himself up as he leaned down on the blankets beneath him, pulling Jisung down on him with the other hand. 

The boy straddled Minho's waist, a position all too familiar for them both now as Jisung's thighs were squeezing their legs together as he cupped Minho's cheeks to press another kiss to his lips. 

"You're beautiful." Minho whispered into the kiss, one hand falling to Jisung's collarbone to rub his finger against the bone before pulling one of the strings of Jisung's hoodie and the boy leaned back for a second to slip it off his head, shaking his hair back in place when he looked back at Minho whose eyes had watched every movement like a hawk and raised his hand up to brush his thumb against Jisung's collarbones and the side of his neck. 

"You getting sappy on me Lee?" Jisung grinned, tilting his head back, enjoying the soft but fire like touch of Minho's fingers along his neck. 

"I accidentally fell asleep earlier, I only woke up like an hour ago. I'm barely awake but extremely horny. So yes, maybe I'm getting sappy over the strong urge I have to make your thighs shake around me right now." 

"Fuck." Jisung whined, grabbing Minho's wrist of the hand that was touching his skin to make the boy look at him. "You're so warm." Jisung let slip past his lips as he felt the heat of Minho's eyes staring back at him. "You make me feel so _fucking_ warm."

Jisung's words seemed to affect Minho greatly, his expression, the momentary soft look in his eyes as he looked at Jisung, had shifted to something hard, almost like it was determination as he sat up properly, grabbing roughly Jisung's sides. 

"Warm?" Minho asked carefully, staring up at Jisung who felt like he was about to burst. 

"Yes– yeah. I know you have a thing for my waist, and–and it just makes your touch even warmer. Or just in general, whenever– wherever you touch me, it's so warm." Jisung didn't know why he was spilling out all these confessions but he was spending the night without fears so he wrapped his arms around Minho's neck as he raised his hips up slowly, and grinded down against Minho's bulge, his own creating the perfect amount of friction to make Minho's eyes squeeze shut for a moment until snapping them open when Jisung spoke again.

"Feels like you're burning me when you touch me. Hurts hyung, I like it."

"Fuck, Jisung." Minho swung an arm around Jisung's sides as he lifted them both up enough for Minho to switch their positions, laying Jisung down against the blankets carefully and hovered above him, voice nothing but a whisper. "You don't get how badly your words affect me, you really fucking don't." Minho swore as he pressed a kiss to Jisung's lips before trailing hot and wet kisses down the boy's chest, Jisung's back arching at the feeling and without even completely realising, he lifted his hips up and Minho swiftly took the opportunity to pull both his pants and boxers off, kissing at the new exposed skin of Jisung's thighs, hands squeezing the cold skin, quickly making Jisung's body temperature rise. 

" _Minho_." Jisung let out a soft moan, he had to use all his strength and willpower not to move his thighs, wanting nothing more than to close them and relish in the feeling of Minho's mouth so close to where he really wanted it. 

"Told you I wanna make your thighs shake around me babe." the pet name slipping past Minho's lips easily as his eyes locked with Jisung's with a smirk, a second before he ran the tip of his tongue down the underside of Jisung's dick.

Jisung's hands flew to Minho's hair at the same time his eyes rolled back, a shaky groan leaving his lips. Minho teased Jisung like that a few more times and the feeling of Minho's tongue on him had Jisung's thighs beginning to shake until he tugged at Minho's hair roughly, finally whining out, " _more_."

Minho pulled away to take a deep breath in, wetting his lips and his fingertips dug into Jisung's thighs as he leaned back down, lips parting as he took the entire length of Jisung's dick in his mouth, exhaling out of his nose.

"Fuck, fuck." Jisung moaned, his body was going into overdrive and Minho began to bob his head, taking Jisung in deeper and his hands were gripping Minho's hair so hard he feared he might actually hurt the boy if it weren't for the little grunts Minho would let out every time Jisung pulled.

Minho massaged the skin of Jisung's thighs with his hands slowly as he pulled away slightly, letting his tongue swirl around the base of Jisung's dick, only to take Jisung back down within the next second and Jisung threw his head back with a groan, hips bucking up as he fucked himself into Minho's mouth slightly, one hand leaving Minho's hair to grasp the blanket beneath him, Jisung practically saw stars from squeezing his eyes shut so tightly. 

He almost felt embarrassed at how fast Minho had managed to get him so close to the edge already, but when Jisung opened his eyes and dared to look down at Minho, the sight of the boy's cheeks completely flushed and with his lips around Jisung's dick, head bobbing a bit quickly to keep taking more of him, Jisung felt his entire body shake and he barely managed to get control of his senses enough to mumble " _fuck, I'm gonna come_ " and when he didn't feel Minho move away, only give his thighs another squeeze, Jisung pushed any and all embarrassment aside as his vision went blurry, eyes rolling into the back of his head again, fisting Minho's hair with both hands again as he gave a few more bucks of his hips and came down Minho's throat with a loud moan, his hips slowing down as he rode out the high.

Jisung could've sworn he blacked out until he felt Minho leaning up to kiss his lips once he finally pulled off his dick after swallowing everything Jisung had to give. It was a different feeling, kissing Minho and tasting himself on Minho's tongue when he explored the boy's mouth but he had such a euphoric feeling coursing through his veins and entire being that he slipped his arms around Minho's neck and pulled the boy down closer so that Minho was practically laying on top of him, one hand on the blankets just above Jisung's shoulder to hold himself up enough to keep their lips together and Jisung sighed happily into his mouth as he felt Minho's lips rise in a bit of a smile. 

God, Jisung was so fucking in love with him.

"Best blowjob _ever._ " Jisung mumbled in a humorous tone, but was completely serious, as their kiss slowed down and Minho actually laughed into his mouth, leaning his head further away from Jisung to look at him.

"Better than any in University?" Minho's voice was low and horse, and his tongue darted out to wet his swollen lips. Jisung's chest filled with pride. 

"University be damned. I've never come so hard in my entire life from just having a mouth on me." 

"Well good for me then, I think I'm the real winner here. Kudos to me for having no gag reflex." Minho smiled, more laughter escaping his lips. "But damn Han, what kind of sad college boys were you fucking?"

"Real sad ones." Jisung stated, lifting his head up to catch Minho's lips in another kiss, placing a hand on Minho's hip as his other had no shame, coming up to stroke Minho's dick through his pants making Minho let out a choked moan as he pulled away from their kiss.

"You don't have to." Minho mumbled, looking down at Jisung who just shook his head. 

"Want to." He whispered, hand slipping into Minho's boxers the next moment. Minho's body spasmed a bit when Jisung wrapped his hand around his achingly hard dick, thumb rubbing over his leaking tip and Minho's hands grabbed the blankets Jisung was laying on to keep himself up.

"Jisung." Minho hid his face into Jisung's neck as he whined when Jisung began moving his hand up and down Minho's length slowly, pumping a few times. "You're gonna kill me if you keep going at the pace."

"Good, maybe your death will keep my own embarrassment down from coming so fast." Jisung said with a smirk until he gasped when Minho bit the skin of his neck just below his ear, tongue immediately dancing around the skin. 

"Try covering that one up." Minho whispered, hot breath in his ear, voice cracking as Jisung quickened the speed hand within the next moment. 

Though his nerves and painful thoughts would probably come knock some sense into him in the morning, Jisung didn't care as Minho began grinding against Jisung's hand, lacing the side of Jisung's neck and left shoulder with bruises of hickeys until Minho came in Jisung's hand a few minutes later.

  
  
  
  


An hour later, after more kisses and making out and Minho's neck and chest having a few new hickeys, Jisung left the boy's tent and made his way back into the cabin as quietly as he could, flopping down on his bed and when he knew Felix was asleep, he let out a bit sigh, staring at the ceiling fan spinning around the ceiling, feeling the air hitting his burning hot cheeks. 

As Jisung drifted off to sleep a few minutes later, he hoped to remember the sounds he'd heard tonight. The happy sighs that left Minho lips whenever they kissed, the sweet whines that Minho would let slip in Jisung's ear as his hips grinded against Jisung every time Jisung's hand would run down his length, and the breathy moan that escaped from Minho as he came hot in Jisung's hand as he whimpered " _Jisungie_ ". 

He never wanted to forget the night Minho wanted Jisung as much as he had. Even if Jisung's heart began to hurt at the memories. 

  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


To avoid facing anyone, Jisung pretended to sleep in until after 11am, rolling onto his left side to face the wall and pulled his hood over his head, snuggling into his pillow where he had his phone tucked underneath to keep an eye on the time to make sure Felix thought he was sleeping and would just leave the room to join everyone else.

Jisung almost shot his head up when he heard Felix shuffling around the room, obviously getting dressed when there was a soft knock on their door. 

"Hey Felix?"

 _Changbin_.

"Oh– hi. Good morning."

"Did you sleep okay?"

Jisung could almost feel the way Felix's body was tensing from across the room.

"I slept fine. Is that way you're here? To ask me how I slept?"

"Uh, no. I was, well... Hyunjin made crepes with a bunch of fruits, and said it's one of the speciality breakfasts they do at Hwang's, since it's our last morning here. I wanted to ask if _uh–_ " There was a pause and Jisung heard Changbin take a deep breath in. "Do you want to have breakfast down by the beach with me?"

Jisung's eyes shot open in surprise before squeezing them shut again, pretending to shift in his sleep, his arm extending from underneath his pillow to cover his face with his sleeve. 

Felix seemed to be just as surprised as Jisung was because it took him at least a minute to answer with only one word.

" _What?_ "

Jisung cracked a smile underneath his sleeve.

"It's okay if you don't want to. I just kinda wanted to talk, but if not–"

"No, I'd like to."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Jisung could hear the smile in Felix's voice. "Breakfast by the beach sounds really nice."

"Okay, awesome." 

There were footsteps moving around the room and Jisung felt Felix come close to him, obviously trying to see if he was still asleep and Jisung just kept his breathing as calm as possible, waiting until Felix left the room with Changbin, the door closing shut and Jisung nearly jumped out of bed, grabbing his phone and opening his camera. 

"Oh my good fucking god." Jisung shook his hood off his head, eyes landing on the bruises on his neck and he pulled the material away from his shoulder and gasped. 

So _that's_ what purple really looked like. 

He couldn't see the colours for what they were obviously, but if he saw the bruises this strongly and it was only 30% of the pigment, he could imagine how colourful his neck and shoulder must really be from all the hickeys Minho had left on him. 

Jisung touched one of the really dark purple bruises on his neck and he flinched at how sensitive the skin was. Two seconds later, Jisung felt like he couldn't breath.

He got up and practically ran to the bathroom, not caring that he saw two of his friends watch him fly by and slammed the door before he took his shirt off and really took a look at himself, faded colour vision and all.

He wanted to cry.

  
  


The pain from what he'd done last night finally hit him, as he knew it would. But it hit hard, punched harder than Jisung thought it would and he felt like the wind had just been knocked out of him, fingers gripping the edge of the sink before he sunk down to the floor in a squat, holding his hands behind his head as he started to cry.

It wasn't a mistake. Jisung wouldn't let himself think that. Because he knew they both wanted each other last night, loved the feeling of having the other so close.

But Jisung loved it too much.

He loved _Minho_ too much.

And he'd let his love for Minho get the better of his judgement last night and that love had finally broken him. 

Jisung leaned his face into his arm as his tears fell hard and fast. His mind was racing, telling him he was stupid to fall in love with a boy he'd only known for a month and that didn't even love him back. 

Maybe Jisung was really as stupid as Hyunjin and the others liked to joke that he was. 

"Jisung?" There was a bang on the door and a twist of the handle and Jisung felt like the ground was shaking, an earthquake about to crack the floor in two any second. 

_Jesus fuck, he forgot to lock the door._

"Jisung, oh my god. What's wrong?" Minho rushed towards Jisung, knees hitting the ground as he went to place a hand on Jisung's back and Jisung flinched, pushing the hand away as hard as he could. Jisung didn't know what he hated more, the confused way Minho was looking at him when he lost balance on his knees and stumbled backwards, or the fact that he was wearing a loose muscle shirt, neck on display for everyone to see what Jisung had left the night before. 

Jisung felt like a thousand needles were piercing through his skin in that moment and he needed to pierce the final needle in his heart to make it stop hurting. 

He had to. He couldn't take it anymore. 

"I'm just your summer fuck, aren't I?"

Minho looked like Jisung had just slapped him across the face. " _What?_ " 

"It's just been a game, right? Get to know me so we hang out more and start flirting, then that's when the real fun starts. Who makes the first move? Then we kissed and boom, shit gets real. Game's added more heat to it because we're making out for hours in the woods trying to make the other give in. And you know what?" Jisung got up from the floor, letting out a humourless laugh and Minho rose from the floor a moment later. "I guess you won because I gave in. I lost the game last night when we hooked up. Congrats Lee, you got your quick summer fuck." 

"What the hell, Jisung? Is that all this is to you? _A game?_ Is that the kind of person you see me as? Someone who would use you just to hook up?" Minho took a step forward and Jisung took two back, bumping into the sink. "Where is all of this coming from?" 

"You want the truth? Sure, what the fuck else do I have to lose at this point." Jisung waved his hands out as he shrugged. "You got me. I fell for you and fuck, I fell hard and I didn't even realise. I never wanted to experience pain like this, that's why I was fine with never meeting my person. I didn't want to go through this, I hate seeing colours like this." Jisung almost spat out and Minho's eyes flashed with pain. "I don't want this. I don't want to feel this way because it's just me in this, and the colours are hideous. I had no issue with my greyscale. So fuck you for taking that away from me and fuck you for still having yours." 

Jisung's words finally triggered something in Minho to snap as he picked up Jisung's hoodie from the floor and charged towards Jisung and grabbed the boy's shoulders, pushing him up against the opposite bathroom wall, hoodie hanging in between them and Jisung's eyes went wide, his skin felt like it was melting. 

"Are you actually fucking joking? You really think after all of this, everything that's happened between us, that I still see grey?" Minho was angry. Jisung had never seen Minho like this before. He had tears in his eyes as he held onto Jisung's arms tightly, face and neck turning a faded red. 

"The night we were messing around in the lake, when you dunked me underwater, I saw yellow. That's why I told you that you were glowing like a shooting star. Because you were, Jisung. That's how strong my yellow was, it was so bright I was scared to look away. I thought you'd disappear and I'd wake up and everything would just be a dream. But then you said my name and I realised it was real, that it wasn't a game, it never was a fucking game. I was in love with you. But something was wrong because when I looked around, everything else was still grey. You were the only thing I could see in colour, and then I remembered another story of my parents. My mom was the first to fall in love, she fell for my dad a month before he finally confessed. When she saw yellow, my dad was the only thing that stood out in her spectrum. Everything else was so gloomy but he had such a warmth around him that shined with colour and it nearly broke her, but she was strong enough to believe in her love for him so she lived with grey scale surrounding her, except for when she looked at my dad. And that's what I see every time I look at you. Beautiful colours that are fucking _choking_ me. But not now, not anymore." Minho dropped his hands to his sides, stepping away from Jisung who tried to reach back out for him, and flinched when Minho rolled his eyes and–

No. 

_No no no._

Jisung's vision became darker then, his pale colours seeming to fade even more as Minho stepped further away from him. 

Jisung didn't want to believe what was happening. 

Minho had fallen in love with him first. He felt the pain of seeing everyone and everything around him still in grey but the one person he loved, he saw in such a unique creation of colours. He felt the torture of having someone so close yet so far, but he endured the pain because he wasn't scared to be in love. 

Unlike Jisung. 

He wanted to cry again but no tears would come. Instead of enduring the pain, he tried to deny it, push it away, only acknowledge it for short periods of time until he ran from it again and made it so, _so_ much worse on his weakening heart that cried out for Minho until he was finally tired of his heart hurting every day he looked at Minho so he exploded to get the last of the pain over with. Exploded and hurt himself so his heart would finally just break. 

But he should've just confessed. 

Because now, both their colours were fading as they looked at each other. 

Their love was fading. 

The Universe had fucked with and done a lot of things to Jisung, but this was the worst it's ever treated him. 

"No wait, Minho, I–" 

"I think you should ride back to Seoul in Hyunjin's car. Chan's going to drive me back to the sanctuary after he drops Changbin off at his mom's." Was all Minho said, making his way to leave the bathroom. 

"I don't think you realise how fucking happy you make me." Jisung whispered, not even thinking Minho heard him until the boy froze, hand on the door to stop himself from moving forward. "I've never had someone look at me the way you do, to touch me the way you do. I've never wanted to see stupid colours so bad in my life until I met you and when I did, they were pale, gross, wasteful. Except for my yellow. But I was so scared when I saw it, Minho. I felt like I was being cooked alive with how hard everything hit me. It was so beautiful and I was terrified. I just– I didn't know there were things that happened only to the first one to fall in love..." 

Minho's shoulders rose to his ears before they slumped down as he heaved out a sigh. "Good luck with your internship Jisung." 

_Shit_ , feeling your heart break really hurt. 

Jisung wanted to grab Minho, yell that he loved him so much that he was too scared to say anything because he was selfish and didn't want to get hurt, but he couldn't find his voice. Instead, he just stood there in absolute silence as he watched Minho leave the room, not even sparing him a second glance as a painful sob escaped Minho's throat. 

Jisung didn't even know what to think. All he knew for certainly was two things. 

First, he was heart broken and it was his own fault for being selfish and scared. 

And secondly, the worst of the two, Jisung had accidentally broken Minho's heart in the process. 

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


If one of the other boys in the car wondered why Jisung had suddenly thrown his bags into Hyunjin's trunk and got in the backseat, squeezed into the right side of the door with Felix and Seungmin who were already in the back, and Hyunjin and Jeongin in the front, they didn't say anything. 

Jisung somewhat wondered if they would try and ask about the hickeys covering almost the entire left side of Jisung's neck and shoulder. He'd decided not to bother with trying to cover them up. What was the point in it now? Chan had been talking to Minho out in the kitchen when they'd seen Jisung run into the bathroom when Minho went after him, and by the time Chan had called everyone back in to make sure Jisung was okay, Minho was already rushing out of the bathroom with tears in his eyes, hickeys exposed for the others to see on his neck. 

But Jisung didn't think they would ask him. 

Except maybe Felix. 

Who indeed did ask, an hour into their drive. 

"Why didn't you tell me?" His friend had asked from the middle seat next to Jisung's left. 

Seungmin had fallen asleep, his headphones on his ears with loud music coming from them so he couldn't hear them talking even if he was awake, and Hyunjin and Jeongin were blasting music in the front of the car, singing loudly and playing a heated game of _I spy_ at the same time. 

Jisung didn't answer, only looked out the window. His feet shifting around uncomfortably because he knew Felix was looking at him. 

"You're in love with him." 

Jisung rested his elbow on the window edge, setting his chin in his hand and continued to ignore his friend. 

"I know what it's like to love someone who you don't think feels the same." 

"You didn't tell me though, did you?" Jisung whipped his head around to his friend, he was sad and angry at his own stupidity and didn't want to talk to anybody but Felix was pushing that sensitive topic right now and Jisung was tired of it. "You didn't tell me you were still in love with Changbin. I had no idea you could still see 30% of the spectrum." 

Felix looked guilty, like he'd been caught with something he shouldn't have and Jisung should have stopped, he just wanted to be alone so he should have kept his mouth instead of blurting out more but he couldn't stop himself. 

"If you had mentioned that to me, maybe I could've told you that Changbin still sees it too. He still fucking loves you."

"How do you know that?" 

"He told Minho he still sees colour. It didn't make sense so Minho looked it up. People only stop seeing colours when they completely fall out of love. If something bad happens sometimes between the couple, the colours fade but they're still there. They'll never disappear unless you lose all your love." Jisung saw the tears in Felix's eyes at the truth Jisung was telling him. He felt bad and wanted to reach out and grab Felix's hand, apologising to his friend but he didn't. 

"I spent the night with him when he had to sleep outside last week. I couldn't let him feel the pain of having no one and being completely alone, so I snuck out of the cabin after you went to bed. But you knew that already, didn't you?" 

Jisung nodded. 

"Of course you did." Felix let out a short laugh, it was fake and filled with pain. He blinked away his tears, swiping a finger under his eyes. "He kissed me the next morning. When I was getting up to leave, he grabbed my hand and when I looked at him, he just kissed me. And I instantly felt the heat. The warmth of love that we used to have. I guess now it makes sense that he did too, if he sees the same colours I do, because he pulled away and touched his lips like he'd just burnt them and I felt like I had no air in my lungs so I ran. Unzipped the tent and ran in the cabin." Felix finally confessed everything and Jisung was sickly reminded of Minho and how his touch felt it could burn Jisung's body that he broke eye contact with Felix, head turning to look at the sky out the window again. 

"You should've told me Lix." was all he said. 

"I didn't want to involve you in something you couldn't fully understand, I didn't want it to freak you out, didn't want to have you be scared of getting hurt and make you fight the feeling of falling in love. But I was wrong, you were already fighting your feelings for Minho." 

Felix placed a hand on Jisung's leg, his voice dropping lower, not wanting anyone else to hear him except Jisung. "I saw you two sneak off a couple times, saw how Minho would come up to you and pull you away and you'd take off into the woods with shining eyes towards each other. Or other times how you would randomly disappear from the group and a few minutes later, Minho was gone too. I was so happy for you Jisung, so happy that you were letting someone in. I didn't want to push you to tell me, I thought you were just nervous but then you blatantly lied to me last night. Feeding ducklings by a lake at midnight? _Really?_ Was that the best thing you could come up with? You should've ran that lie past Minho before you told it to me, maybe he would've told you that it was shit since it's his job to care for animals. Bread is bad for ducks, Jisung, especially the babies, it's bad for their nutrition and can stunt their growth and development. Minho works with animals, he knows that and would never feed bread to ducklings." Felix pointed out and Jisung wanted nothing more than to jump out of Hyunjin's moving car. 

"As soon as I heard that come out of your mouth, it was clear something was wrong. You were hiding something and not just from me, but from yourself. You've never lied to me before, and I never thought it would be because you were so scared of how hard you fell for Minho and that he didn't love you back so you played a mind game on yourself to make yourself feel worse. When in reality, Minho fell in love with you first and you were too focused on your own self punishment to realise."

Every word Felix said felt like he was ripping open Jisung's wounds and pouring salt on them to make him suffer more. 

"I broke his heart." Jisung mumbled, his vision getting blurry with tears gathering in his eyes and he looked at Felix, giving in and breaking down in front of him. "I love him so fucking much and that doesn't even mean anything." 

"Yes it does, Jisungie, it really does." Felix said, bringing Jisung into his chest as the boy covered his face to cry quietly. Felix made eye contact with Hyunjin in the driver's mirror and sent the boy a look of _'don't you fucking dare'_ when Hyunjin went to turn the music down and Hyunjin gave Felix a sad look, hand coming off the volume button and started to sing along with Jeongin again as if he hadn't seen a thing. 

"You're both hurting, but I promise that your love matters to Minho." 

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


Getting back into his regular daily routine had been easier than Jisung expected it to be. It wasn't really the same as it used to be, he supposed, he didn't have to take off running down the street at 8am to meet up with Felix anymore before University, all with a half eaten breakfast sandwich in his mouth and shoes untied, tripping over his laces. 

Nowadays, his routine was a proper breakfast and chugging down two cups of coffee before Chan came to pick him up at 10 every morning to go to work. 

Two weeks into his internship and Jisung was already making a name for himself at JYP, but he credited Chan for a lot of that. 

("He's basically seen as a God at the place, Lix." Jisung had told Felix one week into his internship in the break room of the restaurant. "One of the rookies told me that Chan once called out Park Jinyoung in a company meeting, saying he didn't agree with the musical development path he wanted to take one of the other rookie groups that Chan had been working closely with for a few months and said he understood them more and wanted to be the one to help their musical growth, not Jinyoung and when JYP asked if he thought he could do better, Chan's response was _"They got their first win with a song I helped produce, not you."_ And ever since then, JYP has tons of respect for him and lets him have his musical freedom with the groups he works with.") 

Working with Chan was something he was familiar with, and now working with proper and expensive equipment in a real music production studio made Jisung look forward to every _hey I'm outside_ text Chan sent him each morning. 

What wasn't easy, was the loss of Minho in his day to day life. 

Spending almost every hour of every day with the same person for an entire month and then suddenly cutting all ties and communication with that person was hard, it was like a shock to Jisung's mind and body. 

And it didn't help that Jisung was still so in love with him. 

Minho still cared, he had to, because every day Jisung woke up, he was thankful to still see the world with his faded colours, but every now and then, Jisung was hit with a massive headache and his colours would darken for awhile before returning to their normal washed out palette. 

"Maybe he's trying to forget about me." Jisung mentioned to Chan one day as he was driving Jisung to Hwang's after they finished their day at JYP. 

"You know that's not true." Chan had responded, pulling his car off to the curb to let Jisung out in front of the restaurant. "When I dropped him off at the sanctuary two weeks ago after our trip, he got out of the car saying _"help Jisung achieve his dreams please, he deserves to be happy."_ Now to me, that doesn't sound like someone who wants to forget about you." 

"Yeah but that was two weeks ago, a lot of things can happen between then and now." Jisung grabbed his bag, swinging it over his shoulder as he got out of the car. 

Chan rolled the window down as Jisung shut the door and he shook his head at his friend. "I know you're busy with the internship and still picking up shifts at the restaurant, but you gotta reach out to Minho soon." 

Jisung wanted to, he even tried to text the boy three nights ago before he cleared his entire message away, locking his phone screen in fear. He was still too much of a coward. 

"I'll figure it out. Thanks for the drive as always."

"Don't overwork yourself this weekend, Jisungie. Felix told me you're pulling a double shift Sunday." 

"I promise I won't oversleep and I'll be waiting on the sidewalk Monday morning, Channie hyung." Jisung laughed and gave a quick wave before backing up and making his way to the restaurant's door, hearing the sound of Chan honking his horn twice as he drove away. 

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


"Wow, you look fucking terrible." 

"I hate you so much." 

"Probably because I look way better than you." 

Felix let out a loud snort, looking up from his phone to see Jisung shoot Hyunjin a death glare from where he was standing in front of the mirror, trying to fix his wet, wind blown hair from his walk to work in the rain. 

"You're lucky we're friends, imagine the workplace complaints I could easily file against you." 

"You could, but Hanbin hyung knows I care about this place as if it was my own child so your complaints really wouldn't matter. Plus, I'm his favourite cousin."

"You're his only cousin." 

"Exactly, his favourite." Hyunjin grinned, skipping over to where Felix was sitting on the bench by the lockers in the staff room. "Why do you look like a washed up mutt anyways? I thought Chan drove you to work most days, especially when it's pouring outside." 

"Chan isn't in the studio during the weekends unless he's working overtime finalising last minute music. I wouldn't have been there either but Jinyoung asked me to stop by this morning so I could show him some of the music I've been helping Chan with, and I was gonna call a cab, like I did this afternoon when he called me in, but we lost track of time and next thing I knew it was rush hour and the taxi companies were telling me I'd have to wait 45 minutes before they could pick me up 'cause traffic was that bad. So," Jisung turned around, showing off his soaked shoes and pants, hair sticking to his forehead that he'd tried to brush off to the side. "I ran to make it here on time, and I ran so fast that I ended up being 20 minutes early, how fucked up is that. I should be employee of the month, no, of the _year_." 

Felix gave a little wolf whistle and Hyunjin clapped dramatically and Jisung rolled his eyes at his friends, turning to face the mirror again. 

"It should be a quiet night because of all the rain. It was pretty dead all day except for the usual lunch hour rush." Felix mumbled, eyes down on his phone and Hyunjin tried to peek over his shoulder to see what was on his screen. 

"Are you texting Changbin again?" 

"I'm simply looking at a text he sent me." 

"What does it say?" Jisung questioned, staring at Felix's reflection in the mirror as he folded the collar of his shirt down and decided to leave two buttons undone in the front. 

He knew Felix had been in contact with Changbin a few times since they'd gotten back from their trip a few weeks ago. Changbin even came by the restaurant one night looking for Felix and Jisung had told him that he'd switched shifts with Ryujin earlier that day and was working the next morning instead. 

"Just asking how my shift went, and if I want to get lunch with him on Tuesday." Felix mumbled, fingers tapping away on his screen. 

"You say that as if it's not a big deal whatsoever." Hyunjin commented and Jisung turned around, leaning against the wall and pointed to Hyunjin, humming in agreement with what he said and Felix didn't even bother looking up from his phone when he answered. 

"Because it's not."

"Lix, your ex is asking to meet up, that's kind of a big deal. Especially since you know he still has feelings for you." 

"Being friends isn't working for us. I wanted to bring it up the last day we were at the cabin but I couldn't bring myself to. It's just weird. Almost the entire trip we were trying to avoid each other without completely meaning too. I feel like we either have to cut each other out of our lives or figure out what we need do to save what remains of our relationship since I confronted him about still seeing colours last week and he didn't seem too phased by me bringing it up, it's just– I don't even know what I'm saying actually, that's how messed up this situation is." Felix explained as he locked his phone screen, glancing at Jisung who felt a sting of pain in his chest, having been the one who told Felix about Changbin's faded colours. 

"Do you want to work things out with him?" Hyunjin asked, a hopeful tone in his voice. 

"I don't know, maybe. But it's hard for me, really fucking hard. It's hard to learn to trust someone again who clearly still has feelings for you when they were the one who broke your heart in the first place." Felix sighed, putting his phone down on the bench and rubbed his hands over his face. "I want nothing more than to love him with all my heart but I'm terrified, that's why I haven't met up with him yet, and I don't know if I can handle meeting up on Tuesday." 

Hyunjin threw an arm over his friend's shoulder, pouting. "I can't imagine the hardship you're going through Felix but what you and Changbin had was something so beautiful and even if it takes a while, I think if you both really want it, you'll get back to that beauty." 

Jisung couldn't stop his mind from wandering to Minho as Hyunjin spoke and suddenly he felt the room was closing in on him and he had to leave. 

"I'm gonna go clock in." Jisung mumbled, kneeling down to his locker a few feet away from where Felix and Hyunjin were sitting, he stuffed his wet jacket inside, along with his bag and turned his phone on silent, tucking it in the side pocket of his jeans. 

"You still have ten minutes though, it's only 4:50." Hyunjin said and Jisung shrugged, getting up and held his head for a second, the room feeling like it was spinning. 

Felix seemed to clue in to Jisung's change in behaviour and grabbed his bag and umbrella, clearing his throat. "I should get going before the rain picks up again. I don't want to end up like Jisung and walk home in wet shoes." 

Jisung looked down at his feet, wiggled his toes in his damp boots. "Yeah it's not gonna be a fun night." 

"Don't worry, I'm closing with you tonight. We'll make the slow night fun." Hyunjin smiled, jumping up with his hands on his hips, swaying side to side. 

Jisung's face lifted up a bit, dramatically hanging off the door handle of the staff room. "I'm stuck with you all night? Fuck, can my day get any worse?" 

Felix and Jisung exchanged a quick laugh at the frown that fell on Hyunjin's face. 

"You want to talk about workplace complaints? Bitch, if we weren't friends I would have fired your ass years ago." 

"Yeah yeah, I love you too Hyunjinnie." Jisung blew a kiss in the boy's direction who rolled his eyes, pushing Jisung out of the way of the door as he left and Jisung simply laughed, eyes falling on Felix who was slipping his hood over his head. 

"You don't want to take a cab? The wait probably won't be as long now." 

"Nah, I like walking in the rain, it's really relaxing. And at least _I_ checked my weather app this morning and came prepared." Felix poked his umbrella into Jisung's side as they walked out of the staff room, walking downstairs back to the restaurant. 

Jisung scoffed, pushing his friend's umbrella away making Felix laugh again. "I checked it, I just didn't care that it was raining." 

"I'm sure that lack of caring will catch up to you within an hour of being on your feet. You work tomorrow right?" 

Jisung nodded. "Yeah, 12-8. You?" 

"8-4, but I have to be here by 7:30 to have everything ready to open since Xiaojun booked the day off. I'm not impressed by the early wake up I have ahead of me but at least Hyunjin said he'd set the cash till tonight for it to be ready tomorrow so that's one less thing I have to worry about while I'm still half asleep tomorrow."

"Oh so _you're_ the reason why I'm stuck with that bundle of joy all night?" Jisung sighed, pinching his temple as Felix went to the door to leave, a big smile on his face. 

"Good luck!" 

"I hate you!" Jisung shook his head as Felix laughed loudly, waving with one hand as he pushed the door open with the other and left. 

(Hyunjin ended up letting the other waiter Wooyoung go home at seven and plugged his phone into the speaker system when it was just the two of them in the dining room. Jisung thought it would be fine until exactly 27 minutes later when Hyunjin began to play _One Direction_ for the rest of the night. 

Jisung left work that night with a bump on his forehead from banging his head against the cash register too much. 

He sent Felix a picture of the bump on his head when he got home.

_'damn cute. maybe u'll earn yourself some pity tips tomorrow :P'_

_'i hate you'_ Jisung had told his friend for the second time that night. He didn't mean it, he could never hate Felix. 

He just hated that he couldn't stop thinking about Minho his entire shift.)

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  


"What happened to _'Oh I'll be waiting on the sidewalk for you on Monday!'_ you fool!" Chan yelled out the window, laughing loudly as Jisung almost tripped going down the last step of his apartment building and nearly dropped his laptop and bag, stumbling his feet around to regain control of his belongings, and looked absolutely mortified when he got in Chan's car, throwing his stuff on the floor by his feet, except for his laptop which he was holding onto for dear life, taking a deep breathe in, still in shock that he'd been so close to dropping his literal _child_ which only made Chan laugh harder. 

"You have your shirt on backwards." 

Jisung looked down to see his shirt's tag down by his collarbone and groaned loudly, slamming his head back against the headrest of the passenger's seat. Chan continued to laugh at his foolish friend and pulled away from Jisung's building. 

"Sorry you had to wait so long." Jisung said when they reached a red light a few minutes later and after he turned his shirt the right way and Chan finally stopped laughing at him. 

"It's cool. I texted you ten minutes earlier than I usually do because I knew you'd be late." 

"Am I really _that_ predictable?" Jisung turned to Chan, an almost tragic look on his face and Chan just snorted. 

"Whenever I drop you off on Fridays and you tell me you won't oversleep and that you'll be early, I know for a fact you will not be, so I just plan ahead."

"Fuck me I am that predictable then. I'm literally two seconds away from throwing myself out of the car into oncoming traffic." 

"Figured you'd say that. I have the child protection locks on right now, Jisungie. You can't get out of the car." 

"Oh my god." 

Chan grinned, trying so badly not to laugh as Jisung looked like a spoiled child who just got their favourite toy taken away from them, banging his head against the glove compartment in front of him.   
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


"So besides me being fucking stupid as I always am and missing my alarm, how was your weekend?" Jisung asked two hours later in Chan's studio as the boys were running through an album for a rookie group set to debut next month. He paused the song, adjusting the bass slightly and pulled one of his headphones sideways on his head as he looked over at his friend. 

"It was good! I saved 50 bucks in groceries this weekend with coupons." Chan didn't look away from his screen but when Jisung nodded and mumbled a _"hell yeah!"_ extending his hand, Chan smiled, giving Jisung a quick high five. 

"I know I make fun of you for your wild couponing but that's awesome hyung." 

"I thought the same." Chan slipped his headphones off his ears, glancing at Jisung across the table, speaking carefully. "I actually met up with Minho this weekend too." 

"Oh yeah?" Jisung nodded along as if his heart hadn't stopped momentarily at the drop of Minho's name and immediately felt himself sweating, he cleared his throat as he moved his wireless computer mouse around the table, scrolling through his other files. "What'd you guys do?" 

"Grabbed a meal Saturday night at an old fashioned diner, it was nice." Chan said as Jisung just kept nodding and Chan decided to take a chance. "He asked how you were." 

Jisung's hand froze mid way across the table, index finger pressing down on his mouse that had been dragging a file to his USB drive. 

"How did I come up in conversation?" 

Chan turned his computer monitor to the side so he could look at Jisung properly. 

"I was talking about work and he wanted to know how you were and how the internship was working out. I told him you're exceeding everyone's expectations here at JYP and he said he expected nothing but that from you because you're so passionate about producing. He even told me about a day on vacation last month when you went on a whole rant about _'how EDM is the music genres best way of self expression'_."

"And what did you say when he asked how I was?" 

Chan just shrugged, giving Jisung a bit of a frown. "I said you've been a lot better."

Jisung rolled his eyes. _That_ was an understatement. 

"Why would he ask anyways?" 

"He does quite frequently, he'll text me maybe twice or three times a week just solely asking how you are." 

"Oh." Jisung didn't know why but having Chan say that Minho actually made a point to ask about him that made part of him annoyed. 

"You really should reach out to him Jisung." 

"Why doesn't he reach out, huh?" Jisung shut his laptop screen down a bit too harshly and with a little too much force for it not to come off as normal and Chan noticed, eyes flickering down and back up to Jisung who was frowning, eyes filled with pain. 

"If he asks about me so fucking often, why can't he message me and just ask me himself?"

"Do you really expect him to do that after everything you said that last morning at the cabin?" Chan asked, no ill tone in his voice but it still hurt Jisung. "You pretty much accused him of toying with you all month long just to get a hook up out of it when Minho is the _last_ person that would ever do that, especially to you." 

"I was upset, I didn't know what I was saying–" 

"Yes you did." Chan cut him off and the stern look in his eyes made Jisung feel like he was being cornered by his father. "I saw you in that bathroom just shoutin' away Jisung, you were set out on a mission to break your own heart and try and hurt Minho because you were so angry that he didn't love you back when he loved you the entire time. So don't you dare try to sit there and tell me you didn't know for one second you had no idea what you were saying."

"I'm so tired of feeling like this," Jisung laughed humorlessly, his elbows on the table as he leaned his head down, running his hands through his hair. "I'm so tired of feeling like my heart is being repeatedly ripped from my chest every time I hear his fucking name. Every day I think about him, and every time I go to sleep. I haven't had one dream since we got back that didn't involve him in it. I just– I can't stop thinking about Minho and I know I fucked it up but I can't– I can't take this anymore. I _miss him_." Jisung's eyes were welling up with tears as his voice broke and he squeezed his eyes shut as he dug his fingertips into his scalp. 

"I know you want to reach out to him, Jisung. What's stopping you?" 

"I broke his heart, Chan." Jisung said simply, raising his head and blinking through tears to look at Chan. "I want to see him so damn bad but I'm scared he'll just laugh in my face at how much of a pathetic coward I am."

"You're not–" 

"I am, that's exactly what I am." Jisung quickly cut in before Chan could try and make him feel better. "I'm a complete coward for not telling Minho how I feel. I should've told him how much I liked him despite my nerves and confessed the second I saw yellow. Instead, I played a stupid mind game on both of us and it just made things so much worse until I got sick of my own game and wanted out when really, all I fucking wanted was Minho." Jisung felt a tear slip down his face and touch his lip and he pressed his lips together, shaking his head as Chan got out of his chair, walking around the table. 

"I love him, Chan. I love him so much." Jisung's voice was unstable when he turned in his chair and Chan bent down and put his hands on Jisung's knees. 

"So tell him that." Chan's voice was soft, a small smile on his face. "Find him, and tell him how you feel." 

"He's not going to care, hyung. I already ruined it." Jisung's shoulders slumped in defeat and Chan shook his head. 

"Why does he ask me about you so much then? Why does he smile so brightly when I tell him that you're doing so well at JYP? Sure, you fucked up and hurt him, but if he didn't care about you, then he wouldn't make a point to bring you into almost every conversation I have with him."

Chan was starting to get through to Jisung's logical thinking, bypassing all the self loathing and hatred thoughts in Jisung's head, finally making Jisung think clearly and it was all too much for him to take in suddenly.

"Hyung–" 

"Jisung, what colour is my shirt right now?" 

"Um," Jisung wiped his eyes quickly and peered down at Chan's short before meeting his eyes again. "Blue, why?" 

"Funny, Minho says blue isn't my colour." 

"Huh?" 

Chan just patted his knees, squeezing the right one as he got up, returning to his chair. "Go wash up and meet me downstairs in the cafe. Let me just save my progress on this song and we'll take a break and get something to eat." 

"Okay." Jisung mumbled quietly, nodding his head as he got up, a bit wobbly, and made his way to the door. "Why did you ask me about your shirt?" 

Chan just sent him a small smile before turning his computer back to face him again and didn't say another word, leaving a confused Jisung to walk out into the hallway, avoiding the odd look another staff member gave him when they saw how puffy his eyes were and just walked silently to the bathroom. 

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


Jisung did a lot of crying the next few days in Chan's studio. His emotional state that he had been trying to pretend was fine finally met its breaking point and came to a complete forefront and Chan helped him through it. Sometimes he'd walk over to Jisung's side of the table and pull the boy into a hug, letting Jisung the front soak his shirt with his tears and sniffles, patting Jisung's head. And other times, he'd just wheel Jisung's chair over next to his own and just give Jisung's shoulder a reassuring squeeze every few minutes as they worked, Jisung silently crying with his hood over his head as his tear filled eyes stared at his laptop screen. 

On Friday afternoon, a couple hours before their work day was over, Chan's phone rang and he was too distracted by the composition he was working on so he slipped a headphone off an ear, answering the call without checking the ID and putting it on speakerphone. 

"Sup?" 

_"Really, this is how you answer your phone? Like some fuckboy trying to get the girls to swoon over him? Jesus, don't do that. That's just gross, Chan."_

"Sometimes I feel like you only call me to insult me." Chan laughed but his eyes sent a worried look to Jisung who had a group's comeback song blasting in his headphones and Jisung paused his music, raising an eyebrow at his friend who went to grab the phone off the table to take it off speaker but Jisung heard the laughter that came from Chan's phone and he froze.

_"I just witnessed a zebra give birth, cut me some slack. I barely know who I am right now."_

Minho. 

_"Anyways, I know we were gonna try and meet up tomorrow for lunch but can we do it Sunday instead? The weekend vet had something come up at another clinic and won't be able to make it in until later in the day so I have to stay on until they get here. I probably won't get into the city until tomorrow night."_

"Sure, I'm free whenever on Sunday so just send me a text and we'll figure something out." 

_"Awesome! Maybe I'll treat you to a meal and everything."_ There was more high pitched laughter and Chan actually laughed along, his worrying eyes disappearing for a second as they crinkled. 

"Fuck yeah! Finally I get something out of this friendship." 

_"As if my amazing presence and humour isn't enough for you."_ A scoff came through the phone. _"You're not super busy are you? I don't want to be a distraction. I'm just on a late lunch now, since yanno, zebra birth and all."_

"Uh," Chan's eyes fell back to Jisung again who looked like he was frozen in place, eyes glued to Chan's phone. "Nah, I'm not too busy. We've been pumping out final cuts of songs this week so I'm just messing around with some last few beats right now." 

_"Oh nice. I'm sure Jisung is working as hard as ever too. Please watch out for him Chan, I know his internship will be over soon so don't let him overwork himself or get stepped on by other people. It would absolutely destroy me to know that the sparkle of passion for music in his eyes would ever disappear."_

Jisung couldn't stop the painful gasp for air that left his mouth as his bottom lip began to tremble, white knuckling the table. 

And to think, he had nearly made it the whole day without crying.

Chan tapped the screen of his phone quickly, taking his phone off speaker phone and went to get up when Jisung beat him to it, grabbing his laptop and stuffing it in his bag. "Jisung–" 

"I thought I could handle this. I really fucking thought I could hear his voice and not cry. Especially after all the crying I've done the last couple of days, fuck I'm pathetic." Jisung snorted, shaking his head, wiping his eyes with the arm of his shirt, grabbing the rest of his things, shoving it in his bag. "Apparently I'm still as much of a coward as I thought too."

"Where are you going? Jisung, it's pouring outside and you don't have a coat, your laptop will get soaked in your bag!" Chan said in a hurry as Jisung made his way to the door, hand holding the handle hard. 

"Guess I'll run." Was all Jisung could say as he gave Chan a final look, eyes filled with tears and took off down the hall. 

  
  
  
  


Chan swore under his breath, sitting back down in his chair and stared at his phone on the table before taking a deep breath in as he raised the phone to his ear. 

"You hear all that?" He mumbled, eyes closed as he held his temple. 

There was a pause on the other line.

_"I was on speaker, wasn't I?"_

"Yep." 

There was more silence on the other line before Chan flinched when he heard something smash on the other line followed by a sob. 

"Minho? What was that? Are you okay?" 

_"Sorry, I have to go. I just broke a glass. I'll text you Sunday. Bye Chan."_

The line went dead before Chan could even answer. 

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


Jisung went to Hwang's the next day with bloodshot eyes and a swollen face from crying all night long and well into Saturday afternoon before he finally crawled out of bed to get ready for work, without getting an ounce of sleep. 

He was glad it was only a four hour closing shift with how badly his head was pounding. He tried to cover up how horrible he looked before he left the house an hour ago, putting on some eyeliner under his eyes with a little mascara and even went as far as adding a bit of grey eye shadow that Seungmin had bought him a few months ago as a joke because Jisung went on a drunken rant about how he wished he could pull off the smokey eye makeup look as good as Hyunjin. 

And Jisung honestly thought he did a good job once he was all said and done with it all, but as soon as he walked into the break room to put his things in his locker, he saw Felix sitting at one of the break room tables and the boy looked up from his phone, took one look at Jisung and his eyes went wide with worry.

"What's wrong?" 

"Why is it that everything I do when I'm going through a rough time is so god damn obvious to everyone?" Jisung's shoulders dropped, a frown on his face and Felix set his phone on table, rushing towards Jisung who immediately crumbled when Felix wrapped his arms around him. He squeezed his eyes shut and let out a shaky breath into his friend's neck, arms coming up to wrap around Felix's neck. 

"Jisung, what happened?" Felix rubbed the boy's back, swaying the two of them slightly to calm Jisung down. "Don't cry baby, you'll ruin your pretty makeup." 

Jisung had already filled Felix in on everything that had been happening with him during their Wednesday night closing shift when Felix had taken a rare night shift. Felix had gone to lock the door and went upstairs to grab his phone when he'd come back into the dining room and found Jisung cleaning tables with tears in his eyes, completely breaking down and explaining how much he missed Minho as soon as Felix pulled him into a hug.

"He called Chan yesterday while we were at the studio. His voice, Lix, I–" Jisung gasped, trying not to hyperventilate as he gripped onto the back of Felix's shirt and Felix held onto him tighter. "I didn't sleep last night because all I did was fucking cry. I just want to see him so badly, I need to. I don't know how to reach out though, you and Chan keep telling me to but I don't know if I can just send him a text and– and I definitely can't make it through a phone call–"

"Stop right there." Felix pulled apart from Jisung and went to grab his bag, rumbling through it until he found his keys and grabbed Jisung's hand, opening it and dropping the keys into his hand, his fingers coming over Jisung's, making the boy curl his fingers around Felix's keys. 

"Felix, why–" 

"Minho has some time off from the sanctuary these days, he comes by the dance studio every Wednesday and Friday night. He joined two weeks ago." 

"Wha–" Jisung opened his mouth but the words died right out as he looked at his friend, lips in a frown. "He _what?_ " 

Felix chewed his bottom lip. "I know we agreed not to hide things from each other but he didn't want Hyunjin and I to tell you. And I'm sorry because I should've told you the second he joined, but I thought you two would have worked things out by now. I didn't know you were getting as bad as you are until you told me earlier this week. Jisung, I'm so sorry, he made us promise not to say anything."

Jisung couldn't even find it in him to be upset with Felix. He was too tired and mentally exhausted. Plus, he probably would've gotten his friends to do the same thing if he'd been in Minho's shoes. 

"But here, you want to see him. So go see him now." Felix squeezed his hands over Jisung's hand that was still holding onto his keys. 

"I–how? And why do I have your keys?" 

"The doors automatically lock after hours so let yourself in, it's the gold key. Minho's at the studio." 

Jisung's fingers tightened around the keys without even realising. 

"But it's Saturday." 

"He books Saturday nights out for solo practice." Felix shrugged, eyes looking down at Jisung's hand squeezing his keys and smiled. "It's time you two finally see each other again. Just don't lose or break my key chain, Changbin gave it to me on our first date and I mean it when I say I'll kill you if anything happens to it." 

Jisung finally noticed how hard he was holding onto Felix's keys when he released the hold and saw an imprint of Felix's sunshine key chain in his palm and seemed to snap back to reality. 

"Don't you need these to go home though? And wait, what the fuck? I have to work Felix, I can't go anywhere."

Felix shook his head, raising his fingers to Jisung's face and fixed the few smudges in Jisung's eye makeup with his fingers gently. "I'll cover your shift. Changbin still has my extra set of keys so I'll check when your break was supposed to be and I'll text him around that time and ask if he can drop them off." Felix rubbed his thumb across Jisung's cheekbone, looking at the vulnerable state his best friend was in. "Go see Minho."

Jisung wanted to cry, wanted to completely drop to the floor and ball his eyes out like he'd been doing for days, but no tears came. 

He didn't know if he wanted to cry over the fact that Felix was going to cover his closing night shift even though the boy had been working since 10am that morning or the fact that he was about to go see Minho for the first time in weeks.

"Lix, I know I want to do this but I don't know if I _actually_ go in there and see him." Jisung said, the nasty thoughts in his head coming back as his eyes dropped to the floor as he took a step away from Felix. "He'll want nothing to do with me. I fucked everything up back at the cabin, who's to say he wants to even see me ever again anyways?" 

Felix reached behind himself to grab his phone out of his back pocket and held up the back of his phone. 

"What colour is this?" He asked, pointing to his phone case that had sunflowers all over it. 

Jisung raised an eyebrow. "Um, it's really pale but I think yellow?" 

Felix grinned, nodding. "That's the answer to your question, baby. I asked Minho the same thing yesterday during dance practice and he said he could see a faded yellow. And if you both can still see the colour of my phone case, it means he still loves you."

_"Jisung, what colour is my shirt right now?"_

_"Blue, why?"_

_"Funny, Minho says blue isn't my colour."_

Jisung's eyes widened in realisation. 

Chan and Felix had been tracking their vision to make sure they still saw colour. 

Enough to make sure that he and Minho still loved each other. 

_Fuck fuck fuck fuck._

He had to get to the dance studio as soon as possible. 

Jisung didn't deserve to have Felix or Chan in his life, he really didn't. 

"Thank you, thank you so much. Consider this an 'I owe you', okay? I'll cover any shifts you want, no matter what times they are." Jisung hugged his friend, squeezing him hard to show how appreciative he was of the act of kindness. 

"Get ready for those early morning Sunday shifts then mother fucker." Felix laughed, hugging him back quickly before they broke apart again. "Now get out of here, I have a shift to get ready for." 

Jisung smiled so wide for the first time in days it actually hurt the sides of his face as he couldn't help but give his friend another hug before rushing out of the break room and restaurant, squeezing Felix's keys in his left hand tightly while he practically ran across town to the studio and grabbed his phone, sending off a text quickly. 

_'hey changbinnie, u busy tonight ? my breaks around 7! u should come by and spend it with me we haven't hung out in a while'_

_'i can't im sorry! i have someone booked for a 3 and a half hour tattoo appointment tonight so i won't even be able to be on my phone.. u wanna hang out afterwards tho? ill get out of the shop around 10 and meet u at the restaurant while ur locking up??'_

Jisung grinned at his phone screen, stopping at a corner of the street, waiting for the pedestrian light to change as he hit send on his next message and locked his phone screen with a laugh. 

  
  


_'perfect! see u then!'_

  
  
  


***

  
  
  


As Jisung approached the dance studio, he realised he had no idea which room Minho would be in and briefly panicked that he was about to make a total fool of himself wandering from room to room searching for Minho but as he unlocked the front door, he heard a booming bass of a hip hop song coming from around the corner and rushed towards the sound, following it down another hall. 

When he turned around the corner and pushed open a glass door that he could feel the music vibrating off of, Jisung stopped abruptly in awe of what he saw. 

He finally got to see Minho dance. 

Minho was wearing a grey and white windbreaker, hat backwards on his head, tight blue jeans with two patches of his skin peeking through big tears in the material on each thigh and knee, all with those stupid blue and green Vans at he'd worn the first time Jisung saw him, now the only difference was that Jisung could actually see the colours, slightly anyways. 

The way he moved though, it was almost hypnotic and Jisung leaned against the glass door, unable to take his eyes off Minho. He moved with such ease all while making sure each muscle and body part hit every move to the exact beat of the song. He looked completely at peace while his body moved a mile a minute, not hesitating to quickly dance across the floor to the loud rap lyrics all around him, he was barely breaking a sweat, barely even looked tired. 

Minho was in his element, Jisung realised, he was doing something he was truly passionate about and enjoyed every second of it, even if he had been away from dancing for a while, the love for it was still there. 

Jisung hated how fast and sick his brain was for relating every situation, shitty or not, to how he cared for Minho. 

"I didn't take you to be a hip hop dancer." 

Minho froze, arms out in front of him as his eyes shot to where he heard the voice, eyes locking on Jisung in the back of the room by the door in the reflection of the mirror that lined the entire wall. 

"It always suited me better, until it broke my leg." Minho responded, voice only a click above the stereo's volume and Jisung basically had to read his lips in the mirror to understand fully what he was saying. 

"Was this the routine you tried to do the jump for?" 

"I discovered I can finally do it." Minho said, in his own way of answering Jisung's question before proving his point, waiting for a certain beat in the song before his arms went up and over his body and jumped up and backwards and Jisung watched in pure amazement as Minho did a one handed back-flip, landing carefully on his feet, left knee bending to the ground to catch himself easily. He reached for his hat that had fallen off his head while he was in the air and Jisung nearly gasped. 

"You dyed your hair?" Jisung remembered seeing Minho's hair as a jet black the last day he saw him. But now, Minho's hair was coloured brown, a colour that seemed to suit him perfectly, even if Jisung couldn't see it for its entirety. 

Minho flipped the hat backwards on his head again, getting up from the floor and walking to the sound system, pressing the power button to shut it off and turned to Jisung, voice remaining quiet. "Wanted to see what hair dye looked like before I lost the chance to see colour again." 

Jisung felt like he'd just gotten the wind knocked out of him and realised the small talk was over. 

"I'm sorry–" 

"How'd you get in here Jisung? And why are you even here in the first place?" 

"Felix gave me his keys." Jisung raised his hand to dangle the keys in the air and Minho rolled his eyes, mumbling something about Felix having a big mouth. 

"And I came because we need to talk." 

"No, I really don't think we do." Minho said, shaking his head and grabbed his bag, shoving his belongings that were on top of the sound system inside it and made his way towards the exit that Jisung was standing by. "I gotta go, I work tomorrow–" 

"You don't. You're getting lunch with Chan tomorrow afternoon." Jisung blurted out, remembering the phone call he overheard yesterday and proceeded to cry about that entire night and Jisung knew Minho must've heard him exit the studio yesterday from how sharply Minho stopped walking, Minho's shoes actually squeaked against the floor from how quickly his entire body stopped moving, head turning to look at Jisung who was four feet away from him. 

"I didn't mean to upset you yesterday. I wish Chan would tell me when he has me on speaker and mention who the hell is in the room." Minho said and Jisung barely heard him before he blurted another sentence out without even thinking. 

"Why do you ask Chan how I'm doing throughout the week?"

"What?" 

"Why?" Jisung pressed, stepping a foot closer and Minho's eyes darted down to see his feet shift forward before meeting Jisung's gaze again. 

"I don't know." 

"You do though, because I know why you do and I'm the dumbass between the two of us, so you'd have to know since you're clearly the smarter one." 

"You're just as smart." Minho crossed his arms over his chest, shrugging. "So tell me why do I then?" 

"Because you love me." Jisung didn't miss a beat, confronting their biggest problem head on and the hard _'I don't give a fuck'_ attitude washed away from Minho's face in an instant and Jisung could've sworn the room got brighter, just a tiny bit. 

"It's like you forget what you said to me that day," Minho laughed but there was no true humour in it. "You were so upset that you had feelings for me that you said _"fuck you"_ and blamed me for taking your grey scale away from you when it was your own fucking choice to like me. You think you were the only one who was scared in all of this Jisung, really?" 

Minho took a breath and uncrossed one arm, pointed to himself. "I didn't ask to be the first one to fall in love, because in the end, you made it seem like I was playing you the entire time but in reality you were the one controlling the game. I was playing the game that _you_ created Jisung." Minho took a step forward, hands gesturing around the room as he spoke. "You had me wrapped around your finger and I kept following whatever you did because I was so in love with you, even if you were the puppet master of the _quick summer fuck_." Minho quoted his words in a disgusted tone, only his eyes betrayed him as they looked so sad into Jisung's. 

It hurt to have his own words thrown back at him in such a way but Jisung knew he deserved it. 

"If I could take back everything I said that day I would." Jisung mumbled and Minho's shoulders deflated, shaking his head as he pressed his lips into a firm line. 

"Whatever Jisung." Minho began to take steps back to turn away from Jisung until the boy reached forward, grabbing Minho's arm, giving them both an electric shock from the sudden warmth they both felt and Jisung's eyesight became extremely blurry again for a brief second until he let go of Minho's arm. 

"I wouldn't take back the part when I told you that I fell for you though." Jisung felt his whole body getting warmer and it felt like a soft vibration was going throughout his entire body and the feeling was far too familiar of a time when Jisung saw a colour for the first time in his life, this time however, he wasn't in denial of how he felt and he wasn't scared of what could happen. 

"I just regret not telling you how badly I'm in love with you."

Minho's lips parted in surprise and he shook his head in disbelief, going to speak but Jisung beat him to it. 

"I didn't let myself believe that you could ever have feelings for me so I brought myself to the absolute tipping point of self doubt until I couldn't handle it anymore so I lashed out to get the rest of my pain over with, but you know what? It's only gotten worse. I feel like my heart's ripping out of my chest at the mention of your name and every night I sleep with a hoodie and sweatpants and three blankets on my bed because I'm so cold, and then I wake up with a sense of loneliness 'cause I remember I don't have your warmth near me anymore. The only thing keeping me borderline sane right now is the fact that I can see these stupid ugly pale colours since I never once lost an ounce of love for you, and because I know that even though I broke your heart, you still care about me." 

Minho stood there for a moment before taking a few steps forward, shoes connecting with the tip of Jisung's boots he was wearing. "You didn't break my heart because I don't just care about you." 

Within a second, all of Jisung's courage flew out the window. "Oh, I–" 

"You smashed my heart to pieces because it cares way too much about you, loves you so much. I love you, you idiot." 

Jisung's eyes rose up to meet Minho's and he looked so nervous yet suddenly happy at the same time that Jisung ended up beginning to smile. 

"You love me." He said stupidly and Minho let out a laugh in the high pitched tone that Jisung had heard yesterday that made his heart hurt. 

Now it made his heart warm. 

"The second you arrived at the campsite and fell out of Hyunjin's car, I knew I'd end up crushing on you. I just didn't think I would end up falling in love with a total dumbass." 

"I'm sorry I was too much of a coward to take a risk and admit I had fallen for you, I'm sorry I took us down a really horrible path where we both got hurt when I could've prevented everything by saying I was in love with you. Because hey Lee, guess what?" Jisung punched the boy's chest lightly, stealing the hat off Minho's head and placing it backwards on his own head, staring at the boy with glee. "I love you." 

Jisung barely got to see how big Minho's smile got before the boy lunged forward, hands coming to Jisung's cheeks as he crashed their lips together. Jisung's hands immediately went to Minho's sides and he pulled the boy impossibly close as their eyes fell shut, lips moving in a rhythmic sync that they were so used to and had missed so, _so_ much. 

"You love me." Minho mumbled against Jisung's lips, their kiss at an awkward angle now because Minho couldn't stop smiling as he was repeating Jisung's words. 

"I love you." Jisung repeated, confidence dripping from his words and he ended up having to pull away because he was grinning too much and when both boys finally opened their eyes, they gasped, in total shock as they stared at one another. 

"Jisung, please tell me you see what I see right now–" 

"Yeah, yeah I think I do." Jisung nodded quickly, looking around the room and his eyes went wide as he saw all the enhanced colours everywhere before he looked back to Minho to see just how much he truly shined. 

And the warmth, _shit_. Jisung had missed the feeling of his body tingling every time Minho looked at him. 

He finally saw the whole colour spectrum. 

And it was beautiful. 

_Minho_ was beautiful, with his dyed brown hair that was an actual colour of copper with his dark roots just starting to show through at the top again, skin such a soft golden tone that Jisung figured could be blinding to anyone else who saw it, and clothes shining against him like it was amour. 

"Is this how you saw me–" Jisung shook in disbelief, stepping away and Minho grabbed the boy's hand, pulling him back to him and spun Jisung around so his back was flush against Minho's chest and he turned them so they were facing the mirrored wall. 

"I told you, you glow like a shooting star." Minho mumbled in his ear, staring at Jisung in the mirror and smiled when he saw the boy's lips part in surprise when Jisung saw their reflection. 

"This isn't another one of my dreams of you, is it?" Jisung asked as he reached his hand up to nudge Minho's chin, making the boy laugh, leaning into Jisung's touch as he wrapped his arms around the boy's torso. 

"Oh, you dream about me, do you Han? Tell me, what are we doing in these dreams of yours?" 

"Nothing you need to know." Jisung answered, rolling his eyes when he heard a cocky tone in Minho's voice and turned around in the boy's arms, facing him again and Jisung couldn't help but break out in another wide smile, finally taking a second to take everything in. 

He was in love with Minho, who loved him back. And they saw every colour that was possible as bright as it could be. 

Jisung physically _felt_ the weight being lifted off his shoulders. 

Minho raised his thumb up to run underneath Jisung's eye, just above his cheekbone. "Since when did you start wearing makeup?" 

Jisung had actually forgotten his eyes were still dusted with makeup until Minho pointed it out and he felt his cheeks burning as he tried to stutter out a reply but ended up babbling out nonsense. 

Minho actually let out a giggle, shaking his head as he purposely smudged the end of Jisung's eye makeup with his thumb, dragging it from the corner of his eye. "I really like it. It's pretty."

"You're pretty." Jisung whispered and Minho's thumb stopped, the boy's eyes widening before he backed away from Jisung, looking away as his cheeks and neck started to flush. 

"Oh my god, are you blushing? Did I just make you _blush_?" Jisung teased, laughing as he walked towards Minho who ran across the room to avoid him. 

"Shut up, don't act like you're not the colour of a tomato right now."

"Jokes on you, I've never seen a tomato in colour before." Jisung laughed as Minho's cheeks were definitely the same colour of the food he'd just described now. Jisung just laughed harder as he went to rush towards Minho again. 

Minho jerked in the other direction and Jisung's boots left a black mark on the floor from how quick he turned on his heel to chase after Minho, the boys laughing as they fell into a game of tag within the space of the dance studio. Minho eventually made a wrong turn and ended up having Jisung crash into his chest where Minho letting out a gasp as he fell backwards, grabbing Jisung who let out a shout when he came forward, arms flying out in front of him as his legs gave out and the boys toppled to the floor. 

Minho swore when his back hit the ground and Jisung's weight came flying on top of him with a hard thud. 

"Mother of fuck, for someone as small as you are, you're heavy." 

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Jisung immediately scrambled off Minho and onto his side, arm reaching out for Minho's face as the boy sat up on his elbow. 

"Well, I can move so my back isn't broken at least." 

"I could break your back for you." Jisung suddenly smirked with a suggestive wink and Minho scoffed, smacking his hand away from his face. 

"You're disgusting." 

Jisung snorted. "Okay, and you're probably the prettiest person I've ever seen in complete colour before. So what?" 

Minho tried to ignore the rapid beat of his heart beat in his ears and gave Jisung a look. "I'm the only person you've seen in the full colour spectrum so far, loser." 

"Well then, it's your lucky day Lee, because I'd like to take you out of a date." 

Minho rolled his eyes, pushing Jisung off his chest. "You're the dumbest person I've ever had the misfortune of ever meeting." 

"You _loooooove_ me." Jisung stated, wiggling his eyebrows with a big smile on his face. 

Minho laughed. "You love _me_." He said back with his hand coming up to the boy's bottom lip, running the back of his index finger slide along it. "But okay, you can." 

"But okay I can do what?" Jisung asked. A stupid smile still on the dumb face of the boy that Minho was so madly in love with. 

Minho looked away, trying to hide his blush again. "But okay, you can take me on a date." 

Jisung grinned, rolling off his side to fall onto his back that laid against the floor, holding two middle fingers up to the ceiling and let out a shout of _"Hell yeah! Fuck you Universe!"_

  
  


***

  
  
  


Despite working the entire day, Felix felt like he was the happiest person on the planet as he cleaned the tables off in the dining room of the restaurant. He'd let the chefs go home at 10 as soon as he'd flipped the _Closed_ sign over the restaurant's door, saying everyone could leave as long as their space was cleaned and everything was shut off. 

He'd tried texting and calling Changbin a few times during his break but he hadn't been able to get in touch with the boy and at this point was completely locked out of his apartment since he definitely wasn't going to contact his bitchy landlord so he messaged Seungmin, who lived in the closest walking distance from the restaurant out of all his friends, asking if he could spend the night if he wasn't able to get in contact with Changbin before he left work and Seungmin had agreed immediately, telling him to just call if he was coming over. 

It was close to 10:30pm now and if it had been Jisung or any other employee cleaning up alone on a Saturday night, they'd have probably rushed through it all to leave but Felix didn't mind, still so happy that Jisung had finally went to see Minho and he only hoped and prayed that they had worked things out while he sang quietly along to his phone hooked up to their sound system, laughing when his shared One Direction playlist with Hyunjin came over the speakers. 

_"I've tried to ask myself, should I see someone else? I wish I knew the answer."_ Felix sang softly along with the song as he swayed around the dining room, dipping his cloth into the bucket of cleaner on the table he was cleaning. 

"I always wished you were more confident in your voice, it's so unique and beautiful. I love hearing you sing." 

Felix's eyes practically bulged out of his head as his hand hit the side of the bucket sending it sideways, nearly knocking it over until he grabbed the edges with both hands as his head shot up to the front door, his vision flashing for a moment, letting him see the world of colour he so badly missed when he saw who was standing by the coat rack. 

"You forgot to lock the front door, which is actually really bad since it's almost 11 o'clock on a Saturday night and anyone could just walk in." 

Felix couldn't answer, his brain unable to come up with a proper response as it was trying to figure out if who he thought was walking towards him was actually real or if he was just in some weird dream. 

"You know you keep cancelling last minute on me every time I try to meet up with you." Changbin scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, stepping towards Felix slowly. "I didn't think the first time I'd see you since the cabin would be because Jisung played me but I can't say I'm disappointed." 

"I– what– Jisung?" Felix stuttered out, eyes squinting and widening and he imagined he looked absolutely ridiculous but Changbin just smiled. 

"Yeah, he texted me asking to come by on his break but I was booked all day so I said I'd meet him here when he was locking up, and yet, I don't see him anywhere in sight." 

"I uh, Minho he's, um, he booked the studio out tonight and Jisung's been a wreck for a while now and he had breakdown earlier when he was coming into work so I gave him my keys so he could let himself into the dance studio. I covered his shift for him." 

"Oh you gave him your keys? Is that why I had missed calls from you earlier? I only got them when I got off a half hour ago, sorry. I tried calling back but I see why you didn't answer now." Changbin nodded towards Felix's phone that was still blasting music from the sound system. 

"Sorry about that, I put my phone on do not disturb when I connect it to the speakers." Felix blinked and stepped away from the table he'd been cleaning. 

"It's fine Lix. Jisung clearly had other plans in the works for us anyways." 

"Yeah, I guess so." Felix nodded and only after he blinked again did he realise that Changbin was less than a foot away from him now and could practically feel the pull of heat coming off his body and Felix had to put his hand on the edge of the table, gripping it with his fingers to ground himself. 

"Why do you keep cancelling on me?" Changbin asked quietly, hand coming next to Felix's, a finger reaching out to touch his knuckles and Felix felt dizzy when his eyes met Changbin's. 

"I don't think I can let myself go through this again, Bin." Felix moved his hand further back on the table away from Changbin's touch and he saw the pain that crossed the boy's face. "I'm sorry, I should've told you sooner. I just can't have you so close only for you to pull away from me again."

"Three years is a long time, you know." Changbin mumbled, breaking eye contact with Felix to look down at his shoes, fingers tapping along on the table to a slow song that was now playing throughout the empty restaurant. "My parents were together three years before they had me. I always blamed myself as the reason why my dad went on such long work trips overseas, because my mom had to quit her job to take care of me and someone had to support the family. After my dad um, after–" Changbin cut himself off, eyes closing for a second to regain focus and it took every ounce of force in Felix's body to keep himself from reaching out to comfort Changbin. 

"After my dad died and I was old enough to understand everything, I wished I had never been born. If I hadn't been born, he'd probably still be alive today and my mom and him could still be happy together and could have had so many more years together other than the three they had before I came and ruined everything." Changbin's voice cracked at the end and he cleared his throat. "That's why I broke up with you, I didn't want to ruin you too. I wanted you to be happy without me dragging you down anymore like I did for the past three years." 

"Oh Changbin," Felix shook his head and grabbed his hand on the table, he looked back up at Felix just in time for Felix to see the tear slide down Changbin's left cheek. "What happened to your father was not your fault. Accidents happen, and you were not one. Your mother and I have had plenty of conversations in KSL about how they tried for months to get pregnant and weren't able to, until they finally did. Your mother called it, _called you_ , a miracle." Felix squeezed Changbin's hand, giving him a smile. "We met out of the blue because I sent us both flying to the ground and ever since that day you've been _my_ miracle. Three years is a long time and I thanked the Universe every day I woke up next to you for giving me my miracle." 

Another tear fell down Changbin's cheek and Felix caught the tear with his other hand, thumb rubbing the water away from Changbin's cheek. 

"I regretted the moment I left your apartment that day we fought and broke up. I thought I was making the right choice, the best choice, but I couldn't have been more wrong. I knew I fucked up every day I saw you coming out of a different room every morning after you woke up at the cabin, I knew I fucked up because I wasn't waking up with you anymore, except for the morning after I spent the night outside in the tent. I'm sorry I kissed you, I couldn't help it, I thought I might have imagined that you were really there so I kissed you to see if it was real. And I wanted to do it again the last day at the cabin, when we had breakfast together but I knew better than that." Changbin pulled his hand away from Felix's just enough to move it back, pushing Felix's hand open so he could interlace their fingers together. 

"I never wanted to pull away from you, Felix. You have to believe me when I say that I truly thought I was making the right decision." 

"But you didn't, did you?" Felix asked, no harm meant in his voice as he rubbed along Changbin's cheekbone, warmth spreading throughout his entire body when Changbin squeezed their hands together. 

"I didn't. I made a mistake, the biggest mistake of my life. And I don't want to be just friends, I never have. I just want you Lix, I want what we had and I want it forever. And I'm so fucking sorry I ruined that." 

"Kiss me." Felix couldn't even bother to be concerned with how weak he sounded when his vision flashed again as Changbin looked at him in shock. 

"What?" 

"You didn't ruin it, you just made a mistake. You were so caught up in doubting yourself that you doubted what you could give me when you shouldn't have. You'd never drag me down or make me anything less than happy because I want you too, just you. And everything weird and amazing thing that makes you who you are."

"Felix..."

"Just promise me if we do this, you're going to stay. You won't pull away no matter what. Not three weeks from now, not another three years, never. You'll stay. Because I can't let you break my heart again Changbin, you really will ruin me then." Felix's cheeks felt damp all of a sudden and he realised he'd started crying without even knowing it and went to pull his hand away from Changbin's face to wipe his own tears when the boy moved forward, stopping his hand and Felix felt a gentle touch to his cheek, squeezing his eyes shut at the jolt of heat that went through his body. 

"I've been yours since I nearly broke my tailbone on the sidewalk when you crashed into me on the street three years ago, and I want to still be yours in thirty years from now, and even longer than that. I want to be yours for as long as you'll have me." Changbin mumbled, his lips soft on Felix's cheeks as he kissed away each of the boy's tears. 

"Kiss me, please." Felix whispered, eyes opening for a second as he watched Changbin pull their hands apart, only to rest his hands gently on the sides of Felix's face, a small smile on his lips as he leaned forward, a final whisper falling from his lips as they pressed against Felix's. 

_"I love you."_

Felix felt a sob in the back of his throat as he wrapped his arms around Changbin's neck, pulling the boy and his warmth closer and Changbin stumbled forward, a hand coming to Felix's hip to steady both of them as Felix bumped his side into the booth behind them. 

When they broke apart, they both let out a small chuckle at their new surroundings that weren't really new to them, they'd just disappeared for a while but came back as strong as ever, like they hadn't left. 

"You're so beautiful." Changbin was grinning now as he held Felix's cheek in one hand, his eyes wandering across the boy's golden skin and his dyed blond hair that had it's special glow to it again. 

"You're not too bad yourself." Felix brought his hand down to trace his finger over the tattoo on Changbin's neck, thumb running across one of the red drops that dripped from the flower. Everything was the same shade Felix was used to seeing and had missed seeing so much, except Changbin's eyes. As they looked at him, Felix saw a new tint in them, a new found warmth inside Changbin's dark eyes. 

Changbin had let go of the self proclaimed blame of father's passing. 

There was peace in his eyes now. 

_Finally_. 

Felix couldn't help but choke up again, leaning his forehead against Changbin's as he let out a sigh, his shaky hands holding Changbin close to him. "I love you." 

"I love you too." Changbin pressed another kiss to Felix's lips, keeping his eyes closed as they stood in silence for a few moments. 

"I have your keys in my pocket, let me walk you home before it gets too dark out. You never know what kind of weirdos will just walk into a restaurant late at night." Changbin joked and Felix laughed quietly, rolling his eyes as he broke apart from Changbin only to run to grab his phone and bag by the sound system, shutting it and the lights off, leaving them in darkness beside the faint glow of the moon coming through the windows as Felix went to lock the front door before making his way back to Changbin, grabbing his hand. 

"If you think I'm spending another night alone in my apartment, you're insane." Felix pulled the boy towards the kitchen, walking backwards to the storage room where the back door was and giggled as Changbin rolled his eyes, pushing Felix against the door to kiss him again. 

"Is that your way of telling me to sleep over?" 

Felix pecked the boy's lips a few more times as he grabbed the latch of the door, pushing it open and let Changbin drag him outside, the door slamming shut and locking behind them. 

"That's my way of telling you to move back in." 

"Damn, a guy who knows what he wants, I think I'm in love. Should I crack my ass on the sidewalk to prove it?" Changbin teased as Felix huffed, hand reaching for Changbin's as their fingers intertwined automatically as they began the all too familiar walk to Felix's apartment. 

"You're lucky I love you." 

"Yes I am." 

  
  
  


***

  
  
  


Jisung stopped mid step when he heard the sound of tires burning against the road and took his headphones off his ears, resting them around his neck as he turned to his right, seeing a taxi pull up to the curb next to him, eyes going wide when he saw who was paying the taxi driver quickly before almost falling out of the taxi to catch up with Jisung on the sidewalk. 

Jisung couldn't help but smirk as he pressed the power off button on his headphones. 

"Now who's the one falling out of cars?" 

"Shut the fuck up." Minho flipped him off, nudging their bare shoulders together as he joined Jisung at his side. "Hi." Minho mumbled a moment later, avoiding eye contact as their steps fell in sync. 

Jisung looked down at the sidewalk for a second to control the smile on his face and gave Minho a shy look. "Hey." 

Before they parted ways at the dance studio last night, they agreed to meet in the same spot next Saturday night to go out on their date and really hadn't expected to see each other until then but when Minho saw Jisung on the sidewalk of Main Street the next afternoon, wearing a baggy tank top with white sweatpants and big boots that looked so uncomfortable to wear in the heat of the summer, all while still wearing the same hat backwards on his head that he'd stolen from Minho last night, well, Minho had asked the cab driver to slam the breaks as fast and safety as he could. 

"Shouldn't you be having lunch with Chan?" Jisung asked, studying Minho's side profile and his eyes travelled down to the boy's lips that were a shade darker than normal, a thin coat of red lip chap applied to them. 

"He said he wanted to eat on a nice patio to enjoy the weather and the diner we went to last time doesn't have one so we agreed to get lunch at Hwang's. Do you work today?" Minho finally met Jisung's eyes, his lips curling up in a small smile and Jisung briefly wondered what his lip chap tasted like. 

_Maybe cherry._

"No, but I'm headed to Hwang's too." Jisung replied and saw Minho perk up instantly, smiling growing. 

"Really?" 

_Probably tasted like strawberries._

"Yeah, Felix works today and I need to give him back his keys he let me borrow last night." Jisung mumbled as they turned a corner and were a few feet away from Hwang's, cheeks feeling a bit warm when he remembered the way the two boys tried to leave the dance studio last night. 

  
  
  


("Turn right." Minho mumbled against his lips, eyes closed as he blindly led Jisung to the exit of the studio, Jisung's hands grabbing onto his windbreaker tightly as his lips moved in a heated rhythm with Minho's. He walked backwards and to the right carefully until his hip hit the edge of a table that was around the corner and he groaned in pain as they broke apart for a second, Minho's hands coming to Jisung's waist as he lifted him onto the table. "Sorry, I meant to say left." 

"That's gonna leave a bruise tomorrow." Jisung pulled Minho back to him, caging the boy in between his legs and felt the way Minho smirked against his lips when they reconnected. 

"Somehow, I don't think that's the last time there's gonna be a bruise there." 

The implication that Minho was making made Jisung's stomach feel twenty times hotter than it did five seconds ago and he let out a near pornographic moan when Minho grabbed both of his hips, thumbs pressing into his hip bones. 

"Does it still hurt when I touch you?" Minho whispered when Jisung pulled apart from him for air, a trail of spit connecting their lips and Jisung would have laughed at the sight if he wasn't so turned on by it. 

His legs squeezed around the back of Minho's thighs, shaking his head. "Only a little, but for a completely different reason now." 

"What reason?" 

Jisung leaned back on his hands against the table so he could get a proper look at the boy he loved with his entire heart, voice coming out quiet but with his new found confidence. "It used to hurt because I craved your touch when I wanted you to love me back. Now I know you do, and I feel the burn of your love in the way you touch me." 

Minho stared at Jisung in awe for a second and Jisung would've thought the boy had become a statue if it wasn't for the way his grip on Jisung's hip, the one he banged on the table corner, tightened and Jisung's body reacted immediately, back arching as his hips lifted up slightly and Minho's jaw went slack. 

"We need to leave now or else we're going to end up fucking and breaking the table." 

Jisung giggled, nodding and let Minho help him off the table and they started their journey to the main doors of the studio again, this time with plenty of space between them, only their hands intertwined. 

"I'll call us both a cab and we can just wait outside until it gets here. We've already given the security cameras enough of a show for tonight." 

Minho stopped dead in his tracks, Jisung's arm being tugged backwards and he turned around, looking at Minho's eyes doubled in size as his forehead furrowed and Jisung broke out in loud laughter, head flying backwards as he saw the wheels in Minho's head turning until he fully registered what Jisung had just said. 

"Oh fuck, the cameras!") 

  
  
  


"Right, last night." Minho nodded, looking back at Jisung with his eyes darker than they were before, signalling that he was thinking about the same event that Jisung was. His eyes flickered down Jisung's entire body before locking on Jisung's eyes again, his mouth parting and Jisung found his eyes staring at Minho's rosy lips again, tongue wetting his own lips as if on instinct. 

"From how you two are pretty much undressing each other with your eyes and are probably a minute away from banging in the middle of the street, I can only assume you're on good terms again." 

A deep voice broke them both out of the trance they'd momentarily been in, whipping their heads around to look at Felix coming out of the restaurant. 

"We are on good terms again yes." Minho answered, sounding a little breathless. 

"Looks like it." Felix smirked, an eyebrow raised at them knowingly. 

Jisung and Minho felt their faces burning in embarrassment. 

"You know you could've just given me the one key for the dance studio right? Instead of giving me your entire set of keys." Jisung changed the direction the conversation was headed and he felt Minho squeeze two of his fingers by his side before his touch was gone again. 

Felix gave him a look as if to say _'are you stupid?'_ as he walked closer to them. "Jisung, if I would've given you just one key you would have lost it before you even made it down the street. And it's fine anyways, you had your own sneaky plan that you didn't bother filling me in on before you ran off yesterday, it seems."

Jisung shrugged, playing it off as he was clueless and held out Felix's keys, dangling them in the air by the key chain. "Whatever do you mean my dearest Lix?" 

Felix rolled his eyes, reaching out to smack the head of Jisung's head lightly before he took back his keys. "Though what you did was extremely sneaky and not nice to not tell me, thanks asshole." 

"Still have no idea what you're talking about, I just happened to know the guy who had your extra set of apartment keys and may have led him your way last night." Jisung shrugged again but a small smile crept onto his face as he winked at Felix. "But you're welcome, it's the least I could do." 

Felix took a glance between him and Minho, looking as if he was about to say something else but then caught a glimpse of someone behind them and his face broke out into a special smile. Jisung had missed seeing the lovely look on his best friend's face, not needing to turn around to know who he was looking at. 

Minho, however, did turn and saw Changbin walking up towards them with an entire black outfit on, jeans, sneakers, and tank top, the shirt's hood over his head. 

"Wow, he really plays the bad boy vibe well, doesn't he?" Minho whispered next to Jisung who glanced behind himself to see Changbin break into a goofy smile when he saw Felix, snorting as he looked away. 

"He does, but have Felix near and he's nothing but a short teddy bear." 

"Hey, I heard that bitch." Changbin smacked the back of Jisung's head as he passed him and went straight to Felix, pressing a kiss to the boy's temple. 

"Good. You were supposed to, you short fuck." Jisung held the back of his head, sending Changbin a playful glare who sent Minho a fake pained expression as he put his arm around Felix's shoulders. 

"You really want to be with this idiot? It isn't too late to back out dude, Lix and I don't judge. Hell, I'll even grab Jisung so you can run and never look back."

Minho laughed, bumping his side into Jisung's and shook his head. "Nah, I'm kind of in love with that idiot, so I guess I'm stuck with him." 

"God, you poor fuckin' soul." Changbin shook his head. 

Minho nodded. "I know right." 

"Hey, what the fuck?" Jisung frowned and was about to curse out his friends who were laughing until Minho grabbed his cheeks and turned his head to press a quick kiss to his lips, whispering quietly as he pulled away. 

"You love me." 

_Raspberry_. 

His lip chap tasted like raspberries. 

Jisung pushed a giggling Minho away from him, ignoring the warmth he felt on his cheeks again and mumbled sheepishly. "Yeah okay, whatever. Maybe I do." 

"This is too cute. Like so sickly cute." Felix clapped his hands together, standing on his tiptoes for a second before bouncing back down on his heels. "You're so lucky Hyunjin isn't working because if he saw this shit, he'd be screaming at the top of his lungs right now." 

"Because he's the most dramatic person we all know." Jisung pointed out making Felix snort, nodding in agreement. 

"Hey, Chan just texted me. He's almost here." Minho poked Jisung's arm as he tapped away on his phone with the other hand and looked up at Jisung with a devilish grin. "Wanna play a trick on him?" 

"I would love nothing but." Jisung agreed immediately. 

"Okay, take off in the restaurant and don't come out until Chan and I have talked for a bit. I'm sure you'll know what to do after that." 

Jisung nodded, turning to Changbin and Felix. 

"Mind if I crash your lunch date?" 

"Not in the slightest." Changbin shook his head, reaching for the restaurant door to pull it open. "I only have about twenty minutes before I have to head back to the shop to prep for my afternoon bookings anyways." 

"I'm doing a double today so I'm on my hour lunch. We can order some dessert and chill in our back booth if you want." Felix suggested and Jisung shrugged. 

"Sure. I've been a third wheel for the past three years with you two, why stop now?" 

Changbin laughed, grinning as Felix blushed, slapping Jisung's arm as they made their way in the restaurant. "We are not that bad." 

"Oh yes you fucking are. Do you not remember our third year in Uni when we were having a movie night and you and Changbin literally disappeared for half the movie to have sex and left me alone in _your_ apartment!" 

"We did not!" Felix said in defence quickly, ears hotter than fire. 

Jisung looked at his friend bug eyed. "I literally heard you!" 

"Damn dude." Minho nodded impressed as he bumped his fist against Changbin's who smirked with his head tilted and Felix was the colour of a firetruck by the time the door closed behind them, leaving a laughing Minho outside to wait for Chan.

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


"So you two are back to normal again?" Jisung asked openly a couple minutes after Changbin bid them farewell and left. 

"We have a new normal I'd say." Felix said, finishing his side of the cheesecake that they agreed to split even though Jisung had eaten way more than his designated portion. "He was still carrying a lot of baggage that was really weighing him down but we talked it out and he's gonna move back in next Friday since we're both off and have the time." 

Jisung grinned at his friend across the table. "I'm so happy for you Lix." 

"Thanks Jisungie. But what about you huh?" Felix kicked his shim under the table but not hard enough to hurt, just in a happy giddy way. "What's it like seeing the world like never before?" 

"It's..." Jisung looked around Hwang's, taking in the different shades of the knots in the restaurant's wooden walls and half cropped red curtains hanging above the windows. It was awesome, beautiful really, Jisung had to admit. He'd been walking around the city the entire morning just taking in all the different colours of his surroundings. But when he'd seen Minho stumble his way out of a taxi an hour earlier, there was no way to describe how blessed he felt to see such beauty in colour. 

He looked passed the people in the restaurant and through one of the windows and saw Minho eating with Chan on the patio outside of the front of the restaurant, Chan must have said something witty because Minho covered his mouth, head tilting back as his shoulders bounced with laughter and even though Jisung only saw his side profile, he knew Minho's eyes were as bright as ever. 

"It's the best thing ever." He answered quietly, still staring outside and Felix leaned out of the booth to see what his friend was looking at, smiling at Jisung as he sat back in his seat again. 

Felix wanted to tell Jisung how happy he was for him, how happy he was that Jisung had someone like Minho in his life to balance him out and contract him when he needed it, and that they would be a wonderful pair together, but he didn't. 

Instead Felix just kept silent, looking at Jisung with a big smile. Partly to save his friend from blushing like crazy, but mostly because he didn't want to spoil the sweet 'boy in love' expression Jisung had on his face as he watched Minho from their booth. 

  
  


("We really have to fix my hair soon though. Like, what the fuck is this?" Jisung took off Minho's hat from his head and twirled a piece of his half dark, half bleached hair ten minutes later. "I look like Cruella de Vil from _The Hundred and One Dalmatians_ for fucks sake." 

Felix laughed at him as he cleaned their table, getting ready to go back to work. "Give me some time to get settled with Changbin moving back in then we'll plan a day just for us and I'll dye your hair and give you a total makeover, deal?" 

"Deal!") 

  
  
  


***

  
  
  


"Chan? Oh shit, hi Channie hyung!" 

Chan's knee came up to nail the underneath of the table in surprise as his eyes went wide, nearly choking on his drink as he saw Jisung step foot out of Hwang's. 

"Jisung, _uh_ , hey! I thought you had today off?" There was total panic written all over Chan's face as Jisung approached their table and if Minho hadn't been aware with what was happening, he'd have been genuinely concerned with the stress lines that were forming on his friend's forehead. 

"Nope, just a few closing night shifts at the end of week!" 

It took everything and then some for Minho not to break out in a smile at hearing the silliness in Jisung's tone. 

"Oh, well that's good then." Chan's eyes went from Jisung's ever approaching figure and Minho before quickly standing up from his seat to probably come and stop Jisung from coming closer but Jisung was a step ahead of him. 

"Hey Lee." Jisung walked up next to Minho's chair, Minho's head immediately turned up to the right to look at Jisung, smile finally spreading across his face. 

"Han." Minho whispered, letting Jisung capture his lips in a quick kiss before they turned to look at Chan at the same time. 

Chan sunk back down in his chair, hands on the table and looked as if he'd just been smacked in the face with a frying pan. 

"Uh?" 

Minho nudged his head up into Jisung's chin who leaned down, pressing a kiss to Minho's hair, giggling into it as Chan's eyes widened even more, if that was even possible. 

"Just came over to say hi, I'll leave you two to finish your lunch. I think there's some things you guys should talk about." 

Chan's eyes flickered back and forth between them until settling on Minho. "We're been sitting here for nearly an hour and you didn't feel the need to bring _this_ up?" Chan drew in a circle in the air around Jisung and Minho. 

Minho shrugged, picking up his drink and stirring the straw around the glass with his other hand. "Oops." 

"Oh my god." Chan covered his face with his hands for a second, shaking his head and let out a deep sigh. 

"Must have slipped his mind, a lot can happen overnight." Jisung chimed in and Minho snorted as Chan actually let out a groan into his hands. 

"I feel like I just lost a year off my life."

"I'll let Minho put the pieces together for you, enjoy the rest of your lunch. And to try and gain back that year of your life we just took, I promise I'll be early tomorrow." 

Chan removed his hands from his face to send an exasperated look towards Jisung, but there was a smile underneath it. 

"Sure thing Jisungie."

"See you Saturday night?" Jisung stepped away from the table, question directed at Minho as he tried to keep his confidence up but he couldn't help but chew his bottom lip nervously. 

"Yeah." Minho gave him a shy smile, looking at him from the table with that wonderful shine in his eyes that made Jisung's nerves wash away. "I'll text you later too." 

Jisung grinned. "Okay. Bye Lee, bye Channie hyung."

"See you tomorrow, Jisung." Chan had a proper smile on his face now and watched his friend who was walking backwards away from the table, still grinning and waving. 

"I'll be sitting on the steps waiting for you to arrive, _I swear!_ " 

Chan shook his head, laughing quietly as Jisung nearly banged into a stranger from not paying attention, blushing like crazy as he apologised to the man and practically took off running around the corner to save himself from more embarrassment as he put his headphones over his head. 

Minho, who had been watching Jisung's wild behaviour and giggling the entire time as well, turned back to sit properly in his seat again, facing Chan and gave him a look, eyes crinkled in a smile. 

"He won't be early, will he?" 

Chan snorted, shaking his head. "Not even close." 

(And he was right. 

Jisung had forgotten to set his alarm before he went to sleep that night, too busy texting Minho with a big smile on his face until after midnight and ended up oversleeping an hour to the point Chan had to get out of his car and had to buzz his apartment building number telling him they'd be late for work if Jisung didn't get his ass in gear. 

Jisung had bags under his eyes the entire day that Monday, accompanied with Chan's laughter every time Jisung blushed when someone gave Jisung a weird look when they saw his cartoon dessert pyjama bottoms.

Chan stuck a picture of Jisung when the boy's back was turned in his studio and sent it to Minho with a quick message of _'I just know you had something to do with this'._

_'what a wreck lmao'_

_'isn't he hot tho damn'_

_'those cupcakes pj pants be makin' me feel some type of way..'_

Minho sent three replies ten minutes later and Chan threw his head back laughing, waving Jisung off when the boy questioned why he was laughing.)

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  


"I can't even believe you'd attempt to put that on. Change, right now." 

"No, wait, come back into frame. See, it doesn't look half bad!" 

"Jisung, don't listen to him, it's disgusting." 

"You can't even see what colour it is!" 

"Doesn't mean I can't tell it's ugly, which it very much is!" 

" _Hyunjin_!" 

Jisung debated just ending the FaceTime call now to save himself the growing headache he felt just below his right temple. 

He'd originally called Felix for some wardrobe help while he got ready for his date and the boy added Hyunjin to the call five minutes later, saying the extra helping hand would save him in the long run. 

What neither boy realised was that Hyunjin was at the dance studio, and he wasn't alone. 

They'd discovered that fun little fact twenty minutes into their FaceTime call. 

(Hyunjin hadn't said a word about the other person in the room, just sitting on the floor until Jisung came in front of his phone to show his two friends the blue jeans that were tight at the waist and began to get baggy and bigger as they went further down his legs. He'd found them in the depth of his closet, not bothering to put on a shirt as he kept laughing, showing off the way the pants made him feel like he was swimming in them. 

Felix had made a comment about Jisung looking like _"a grandmother on crack but actually looks kinda good"_ and Jisung and Hyunjin had laughed at the contradiction Felix had just made until Jisung heard a different laugh come through his phone speaker and a flash of copper hair on the screen. 

" _Damn_ Han, nice abs." 

"Oh my fucking god!" Jisung hit the floor, ducking out of frame from his phone he had propped up on his night stand, on top of his clock. 

"Hyunjin, you didn't say you weren't alone!" Felix shook his head at their friend and Hyunjin just shrugged, pushing a laughing Minho away from his phone screen. 

"Oopsies, yeah we're working on the dance we partnered up for until Minho leaves to get ready for his date with Jisungie." 

"You've been sitting the entire time we've been on the call! How is that practising?" Jisung frowned, still on the floor, peeking up at his phone but staying out of its line of vision. 

"Well I want to help you pick an outfit obviously. And Minho also doesn't know what to wear so he's figuring out some steps for our dance while overhearing our conversation so really, I'm helping kill two birds with one stone here." 

"He's heard our entire conversation?!" Jisung shot his head up on the screen at the same time Felix slapped his hand over his mouth, trying not to laugh as Hyunjin nodded, a shit eating grin on his face and if Jisung could've gone through the screen to choke Hyunjin to death, he would've. 

"I'm only half listening, I swear." Jisung heard Minho's voice coming closer again and next thing he knew, he saw Minho leaning above Hyunjin's head to smile lopsided at Jisung upside down. "However I did hear you freaking out at the beginning of the call to Hyunjin about _"needing to wear the hottest outfit ever to impress Minho 'cause he's like, literally the love of my life!"_ which I thought was very cute."

"I'm going to fucking kill myself, oh my god." Jisung had ducked his head away from the screen again as his cheeks burned with embarrassment and the two other boys on the phone laugh, Minho's own unique giggle getting further away.) 

  
  
  


"Jisung, ignore them and just show me your outfit." Minho was standing in front of the screen now, Hyunjin had leaned his phone against a water bottle a few minutes ago to still watch Jisung as he finally went back to practising with Minho. 

"No, it'll ruin the surprise if this is what I wear tonight." Jisung answered back, leaning sideways to keep his body out of frame, having only his face visible on the screen. 

"It definitely won't be, it's beyond hideous." Hyunjin commented, walking past the screen again and Felix made a snapping noise with his fingers. 

"If you don't cut it out with the negative energy, I'm kicking you out of the call." 

"Bitch try me, I'll just spam Jisung as soon as the call ends." 

"Don't call me a bitch, you bitch! I'll spam you right now!" 

"Shouldn't you be kissing your boyfriend or something? It's late, shouldn't you two be all over each other in bed by now?" 

"It's only five o'clock you moron, he's still at work!" 

"Oh fuck, both of you shut up! I'm going to change!" Jisung pinched the sides of his temple and took his shirt off, walking past the screen to go back to his closet. 

He cracked a small smile, eyes looking down at the floor when he heard Minho wolf whistle when his shirtless figure passed the screen. 

Another ten minutes later, Minho had left to run home and finally get ready and with _very_ little help from his friends, Jisung had finally decided on what to wear. He'd chosen a white blouse and tightest black jeans he could find in his dresser, adding a belt as an accessory around his waist. He'd grinned when he'd found the small belt in a corner of his closet's floor, it had tiny gems lining the seam of stitching. 

Jisung even clipped a chain onto the belt and attached it to the front of his waist to one of the back loops of his jeans. 

Minho would love it. 

"I'm hanging up now, I need to do my hair." Jisung mumbled to his friends, checking the clock his phone was resting on. He had an hour before he had to meet Minho at the dance studio. 

"Looks like you're gonna do more than just your hair." Hyunjin commented, pointing at Jisung's hands that held a bottle of eyeliner and the same makeup palette Seungmin had bought him that he used last week to cover up his swollen eyes. 

"Fuck off, don't make fun of me. I just want to look nice." Jisung frowned and Hyunjin smiled, shaking his head. 

"Minho asked me earlier if he should wear makeup too before you called, I told him to go for it. You two are gonna look hot as fuck, I'm actually disappointed I won't be able to see it." 

"Take one picture together!" Felix spoke up instantly, his glow of a smile as bright as the sun even through Jisung's phone. 

"Oh my god, yes! Please Jisung, I'll make sure you have all of next weekend off if you do." 

"I'm pretty sure that's a conflict of interest." Jisung pointed out at his friend and manager, he was smiling nonetheless. "But I'll see what I can do." 

His friends cheered and wished him luck as he ended the call. 

  
  
  
  


Jisung was honestly over the moon when he left the house to start his ten minute walk to the dance studio. He was pleased with his hair, going for a little off centred hair part and not even bothering to care that his hair was still half black and blond. He was thrilled with his outfit he'd decided on, having laced up his black platform boots and did a thin line of eyeliner around his eyes, making sure the lines from the top and bottom his eyelids came together the best he could get them to, and added a bit of pink eye shadow to complete his look. 

He was basically ready to blow Minho's mind even before they went out to a long time popular Korean buffet spot that Jisung had texted the website link to Minho that morning so the boy could look at the menu ahead of time. But as Jisung walked up the steps of the dance studio's path, he took one look up from his boots to see a figure leaning against the building and Jisung froze, jaw feeling like it dropped to the ground and all his cocky attitude he'd built up on the walk there disappeared within a second because _fuck_. 

_Holy fucking fuck._

Minho was wearing a leather jacket. 

And not just a regular black leather jacket, no that would've been too easy, instead to probably _purposely_ give Jisung breathing problems, there was lines of silver gemstones in different areas all over the jacket, matching the dangling silver earrings in Minho's ears. The boy was wearing what looked like brand new black and white Converse shoes other than one skidded black line across the boy's left shoe and underneath his jacket, he had a simple black t-shirt that was tucked into his black jeans that clung to Minho's thighs and _oh god,_ Jisung realised just how fucking tight Minho's jeans were with the way the material was practically stretching around the flesh of Minho's thick thighs. 

Minho pushed himself off the side of the building, walking towards Jisung who was still on the top step of the path and began blinking like an absolute fool when the sunset lit up Minho's face, showing the shimmering glow of Minho's soft gold eye makeup, a line of darker brown to fade around the top of his eyelids. 

Minho looked like the bad boy out of a movie and Jisung had to shut his mouth with his hand, afraid to actually fucking _drool_ at the sight in front of him and cleared his throat in his fist, willing his voice to come out strong. 

"Hi." 

_Oh yeah, real smooth._

"Hey." Minho tried to laugh but it came out forced as he seemed just as blown away as Jisung was and that gave the boy a small victory. "You look really good, like wow Jisung, what the fuck." 

"I don't just own sweatpants, I'll have you know." Jisung smiled, but mumbled a thanks regardless. "And I change my statement from last week, you are definitely the prettiest _and_ the hottest person I've ever seen in the full colour spectrum." 

Minho tried to look unimpressed by his comment but Jisung saw the way Minho's ears turned pink, the heat travelling down his neck. 

"I suppose I have to accept that now that you've seen tons of people throughout the week in colour?" 

"Yeah, no denying the truth." Jisung grinned. 

"Thank you." Minho bit his lip and he pushed Jisung's arm weakly, knowing his blush was completely obvious now before looping a finger in Jisung's belt, pulling it just hard enough for Jisung to take a few steps closer to him. "This is super nice." 

Jisung let out a surprised noise when his boots hit Minho's shoes, looking at the boy with a shy look. "I figured you'd like it." 

Minho nodded, looking at his finger still moving across the material of the belt, pretending as if Jisung wasn't almost pressed against his chest until he moved his head up slowly and Jisung could feel the boy's breath in his lips. 

"You look really fuckin' hot, if I'm being totally honest here." Minho mumbled and Jisung was the one who nodded this time, right hand coming up to touch Minho's jacket and pressed his hand into the material of the jacket, dragging his index finger down the line of gemstones. 

"You too, like I can't tell if I'm on fire from your touch right now or if you just look so hot that the heat's physically coming off of you." 

Minho pressed his hand against Jisung's stomach then and the warmth that filled Jisung's entire body made him feel a bit numb and he let out a shaky breath, gripping the boy's jacket as they stared at each other and Jisung went to tug the boy closer to kiss him when he realised something, just as Minho was leaning forward. 

"The front entrance camera of the dance studio is pointed right at us." 

Minho's head fell to rest on Jisung's shoulder as both boys let out a breath of laughter. 

"I hate this place." 

"No you don't, we just have bad timing." Jisung corrected him, settling to press a kiss to Minho's neck, patting the boy's side as they broke apart, giving themselves more distance to calm their breathing and thoughts. 

"We really do." Minho sighed dramatically, shaking his head but he saw how flushed Jisung's face had become from their close proximity and it brought a cheeky smile to his face. "I really don't know if I can keep my hands off you the whole night." 

Jisung rolled his eyes even though he felt the exact same way and began walking down the steps, Minho following three steps later and joining him on the sidewalk. 

"The buffet is only four blocks away, think you can handle a civil walk to get food?" 

Minho nodded, agreeing that they would remain pure, civil adults the rest of the date. But he smirked a second later, adding in quickly, "because I assume you're not part of the all you can eat portion for the evening, right?" 

Jisung turned bright red as his eyes shot down to his feet, pulling his bottom lip back from his teeth hard to control his smile. 

"You're gross, Lee." 

"And yet you didn't answer the question." 

Jisung pushed Minho into a cross walk sign five steps later, laughing when Minho gasped, grabbing the poll a second before his face smacked right into it. 

"I think I'm going to kill you, Han." 

Jisung took off in a run for the next two blocks as Minho chased after him, finally catching him as they reached the third block, his hand grabbing Jisung's arm to pull him backwards into his chest. The boys laughing silently as they caught their breaths and Jisung turned his head to look back at Minho and his smile slowly fell as he realised just how _fucking happy_ he was and their date had barely started.

Minho made things fun, made it easy for Jisung. He didn't feel like he had to try and be someone he wasn't. Minho already knew all the crazy, weird, and embarrassing shit Jisung had done in his 23 years from the stories he'd shared, so he could just be himself, admittedly with a bit of nerves because he still wasn't totally over the fact that Minho was in love with him. 

The night before he'd had a dream about being in the lake at the cabin with Minho again, the dream setting exactly like the night when Minho said he saw yellow and Jisung woke up, wondering how the boy had fallen in love with him in that moment but then again, Jisung figured it was more so Minho's journey of falling in love that led up that moment and the night in the lake was the tipping point for Minho. 

Jisung couldn't even really judge, he was pressed against a whole ass _tree_ when he fell in love which looking back now, he found completely hilarious. 

And it made everything about loving Minho so much better. 

Minho must have picked up on how lost in thought Jisung was since he raised his eyebrow at the boy, squeezing him in his arms. "What're you thinking about in that head of yours, _lover boy?_ " 

Jisung's face was flaming red an actual second after Minho spoke. 

Jisung blinked, trying to save himself from some embarrassment. "I'm thinking non civil things right now." 

Minho pushed Jisung away from him with a snort, shaking his head as they started walking again. They settled for holding hands, pretending they both weren't blushing the entire last block. 

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


"Jisung, put your card away." 

"I got it." 

"No–" 

"Minho, I asked you out, I'm going to pay." 

"Don't play the stereotypical straight man role, let me pay." 

Jisung pointed his phone at Minho, his cards tucked behind his phone screen. "Nope, you just called me straight. Now I'm offended _and_ paying." 

"You're fucking unbelievable." 

"Damn, keep talking dirty to me babe." 

Minho threw a grape at Jisung's face, hitting him between the eyes. 

"Well that was mature." Jisung commented, sarcasm dripping off his tongue. He picked up the last strawberry on his plate and threw it at Minho's face, the berry leaving a red juice mark on the boy's nose as it bounced off. 

Minho wiped the juice off his nose with a roll of his eyes. "I'm taking you out next week and paying. No discussion." 

"Sounds good to me." Jisung smiled as their waitress approached them with the bill. He pulled his phone case back to grab his credit card and sent Minho a wink, making the boy roll his eyes yet again and he leaned back against the booth with his arms crossed. 

And it really did sound good, spectacular actually, because that meant another date with Minho. 

As soon as they'd sat down and ordered their first few buffet dishes, their date began to get better and better. They dove into random weird conversations, made faces at each other and laughed at the other being obnoxious in their corner booth at the buffet. It was so simple for them to be around each other when their nerves fell away that Minho actually brought it up when they were on their third set of dishes. 

"Is it odd that I feel like we're back at the cabin?" 

Jisung shook his head, swallowing his mouth full of noodles and remembered his thoughts earlier. "It's because of how easy this is, isn't it?" 

Minho nodded. "It's kind of awesome. It's like, we're on a date but it doesn't feel any different than the nights back at the cabin."

Jisung had shrugged, smiling a bit. "I guess technically all those nights we were exploring and hanging out in the woods were dates and we didn't even know it." 

Minho looked down at his plate, biting back a grin and when he looked up again, Jisung saw how rosy his cheeks had gotten, with a shy smile on his lips. "Yeah, I guess so." 

  
  


The thing was though, dates end. There comes a point where the date is over and usually both parties say goodbye, maybe share a kiss, and part ways. 

Which is technically where Jisung and Minho were at now as they left the buffet, hours after they'd first entered, not even realising they'd been in there so long until they felt the cool summer night's air on their faces as they walked outside. 

Jisung didn't want the night to be over, which is why without even thinking as he watched Minho look up at the night sky, he blurted out, "Wanna walk for a bit? I could show you the neighbourhood I live in, it's not that far from here." 

It was a lame excuse, he knew he sounded lame but he wasn't ready for Minho to get in a taxi and leave. He didn't even want Minho to leave, and by the way Minho whipped his head around to look at him, immediately nodding, telling Jisung to lead the way, Jisung figured Minho didn't want to leave either. 

Their hands found each other a minute later, lacing together as Jisung gave them a small squeeze every time he pointed something new out to Minho on their walk. 

  
  


"Felix lives in that building there." Jisung pointed with his right hand to a brown 13 story building at the bottom of his street twenty minutes later, his left hand squeezing Minho's right hand that he was still holding. "And Changbin now again too." 

"What floor do they live on?" 

"Tenth." 

"Damn, I was just about to suggest we throw rocks at their window." 

Jisung laughed until his eyes went wide and he pulled Minho to a stop on the sidewalk. "Get your phone out." 

Minho, who had still been walking until he felt Jisung pull him, stumbled back to him, letting the boy tug him closer. "What for?" He asked, getting his phone from his back pocket anyways and unlocked it. 

"This is going to sound so _high school dance drama_ like but dumb and dumber may have asked for me to take a photo with you tonight and send it to them." 

"Why?" 

"They wanted to see how 'hot' we looked together, and I can't think of a better place to take a photo than outside of Felix's apartment building." 

"I completely agree, we definitely look hot as hell, show us off Han." Minho laughed, giving Jisung his phone and the boy opened the camera instantly, Minho coming into his side as he held the phone up. 

Minho made a peace sign, bringing it up to the side of his face by his eyes and made a kissy face, lips puckered out and Jisung tilted his head to lean on Minho's lightly, sticking his tongue out as he flipped a middle finger to the camera as he took their photo making sure there was a clear view of Felix's building in the background. 

Jisung went into Minho's messages and typed in Felix and Hyunjin's numbers that he'd memorised years ago, sending the photo with no caption other than _'i want monday night off too.'_ before giving Minho his phone back, the boy laughed when his phone started beeping like crazy. 

"They're fast, aren't they?" 

Jisung rolled his eyes, nodding. "They've probably been waiting for that for hours, it's only ten times better since I sent the photo off your phone." 

As the boys walked up the hill, Minho read off some of the incoming texts from Felix and Hyunjin, explaining that they both were quote on quote _"shitting themselves from how stunning we look right now"_ and Changbin had even sent Minho a text telling him that Felix had screamed when he'd gotten the photo, running across the hall to see the boys walking outside the building. 

"This is my apartment building, it's one of the oldest around the area actually. On some floors, its age definitely shows, especially since there's no elevator, so walking up tons of steps with hands full of groceries is a bit of a pain but the stairs and my floor was renovated last year so it could be way worse. Plus, rent isn't bad and my landlord is funny as hell, he was a total hippy back in the day." Jisung rambled as they approached his building, the old bricks looking dull as ever under the light of the moon. 

"Jisung, look at me." Minho mumbled, stepping a few feet back with his phone raised as Jisung turned around and blinked when he saw a bright flash go off. 

"A little warning would be nice next time, I think I'm blind." Jisung complained, looking around and seeing white spots in his vision for a few moments. 

"Too bad, you look super cute." Minho was smiling at the photo he'd just taken and Jisung went to step forward to see it and Minho giggled, shaking his head. "Hold on." He tapped a few buttons on his screen until he finally flipped his phone around, showing Jisung his phone's black screen. 

"Press the button." Minho said and Jisung stepped in front of the boy, taking the phone in his hands and pressed the power button on the side, eyes widening and a small gasp leaving his mouth when he saw himself in the photo Minho had just snapped, as Minho's lockscreen. 

His eyebrows were a bit furrowed in the photo and his lips were in a natural pout as he'd been turning. Jisung noticed his cheeks were a bit flushed in the photo and when he put his hand to his cheek, he still felt the warmth and he was sure he'd had rosy cheeks half the night, just a new effect of having Minho around these days. 

Jisung looked up from Minho's phone, staring at the boy who looked so happy and content at what he'd just done that it actually made Jisung's heart _hurt_ and he shoved the phone back in the boy's hands, cupping his face, his platform boots giving him an inch advantage in height to be able to kiss Minho sweetly. 

"I love you." He whispered against Minho's lips, the boy holding his phone with both hands a bit stunned until he let go of it with one hand to grab the belt around Jisung's waist, pulling him closer as he kissed him back with more force. 

The three words weren't enough for Jisung, even if he didn't know how to express himself well. He just knew that saying _I love you_ wasn't enough to express of the absolute love and adoration he felt for Minho. 

But until he found better words, they'd do the job for now. 

"What floor do you live on?" Minho asked as they parted, his head tilting towards Jisung's apartment building as his eyes darted to the boy's lips and back up to his eyes, hand still on Jisung's belt. 

"Top floor, fourth." He mumbled, feeling Minho's fingers curling around the belt on his waist again, tugging on it. 

"You should show me your apartment." 

Jisung dropped his hands from Minho's face, one to get his keys from his pocket and his other hand grabbed Minho's wrist, pulling him towards the entrance, the butterflies in his stomach being overtaken with the burning warmth that had started as soon as he'd seen Minho earlier that evening. 

  
  
  
  
  


Their lips were on each other's again the second they were off the stairs. After Jisung made sure the door to the stairs shut behind them and turned around, Minho wrapped his arms around the boy's neck, lips crashing onto his hard and Jisung groaned, sucking on Minho's bottom lip, shoving his tongue passed Minho's lips when he parted them as he'd blindly led Minho down the hall to his apartment in the corner. 

Jisung was glad the walls were thick in his building, he barely heard other people in the apartment unless someone was outside his door or something extremely heavy was dropped in another apartment, even in the hallways he rarely ever actually heard someone moving around in their rooms. And he was thankful, now more than ever because it saved him from worrying how loud the echo of Minho's back hitting Jisung's front door was, the noise rang throughout the empty hallway as Minho let out a pained whine.

"Sorry." Jisung mumbled, not even meaning it as he broke apart from Minho, who looked so fucking beautiful with his bottom lip swollen red as he simply stared back at Jisung. 

The usual soft, shine in his eyes changing into something more desperate, needy, as he leaned his head against the door, voice coming out in a whisper. "You should give me a tour of the place." 

"Yeah?" Jisung's voice low as his chest was pressed up against Minho's, fumbling his keys between his fingers. 

Minho nodded, arms dropping from around Jisung's neck to his sides and his jacket slipped off his shoulders, falling to his elbows. "Yeah, start with your bedroom." 

Jisung had never unlocked his door faster in his life. 

  
  
  
  


Minho's jacket was the first thing to hit the floor as they stumbled out of their shoes and down Jisung's apartment hallway, shirts and belts being thrown somewhere on the floor and tongues tangling together as Jisung swung them around a corner into his room. 

When they pulled apart for air, Jisung looked at Minho, almost beginning to count how long it would take one of them to make the next move but Minho simply grabbed Jisung's hand, walking backwards to Jisung's bed until he went around to the side and put a hand behind him as he sat back, Jisung caging him in as he joined him, pecking Minho's lips when he leaned over the boy, Minho's back resting against his mattress. 

"Hey Han?" Minho murmured, head coming forward to rest against Jisung's as he spread his legs, letting Jisung come closer and pressed their very obvious bulges against each other through their jeans. 

Jisung held one of Minho's thighs, squeezing the material and felt Minho clench the muscle as a result. "What Lee?" 

"I didn't say it back to you outside," Minho started, hands going to Jisung's sides as he began to move his hips up in a slow grind against Jisung's, letting out a sigh at the friction and grabbed at the loops of Jisung's jeans, tugging them down slightly, his way of telling Jisung to take them off. 

"But I really love you too." 

  
  
  
  


(And if the night's apartment tour started with the bedroom tour and ended in the same room with Jisung pressing Minho into his mattress, fucking him slowly with a heavy grip on the boy's hips and Minho's legs wrapped around him with nails digging into Jisung's shoulders, with only the sound in the room being their sweaty bodies sticking together as they swallowed the other's moans until Jisung pushed them both over the edge, their eyes meeting momentarily before Minho squeezed his eyes shut, head arching back as he came untouched and Jisung following another moment later, leaning his face into Minho's neck where he sucked a new hickey into, a dark purple mark already raising to the surface where he'd bit the skin, _oh well_.

Jisung thought it was the best apartment tour he'd ever done. 

Because he was in love and finally happy about it. 

Because the boy he was in love with, loved him back. 

So sue him. 

And just because, _fuck you Universe_.) 

  
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


"You know you're going to have to let go of me soon right?" 

The arm around Minho's waist tightened. "Nope." 

"I have to leave in an hour." Minho laughed, turning on his left side where he was met with a frown. 

"You're really gonna leave your _boyfriend_ like this?" 

Minho rolled his eyes, smiling as he brought his hand up to brush Jisung's hair out of his face. "Would you prefer _your_ boyfriend to lose his hopeful future job placement and fail to get his degree?" 

Jisung sighed at Minho's reasoning, falling onto his back and let out an exaggerated groan, covering his face to hide his smile as Minho wrapped his arms around him, sliding into his neck and nosing at his skin. 

"I like hearing you call yourself that, by the way." Minho whispered, pressing a kiss to a bruise on Jisung's neck he'd created last night. 

"Call myself what?" 

"My boyfriend." 

Jisung snorted, uncovering his face and he was met with Minho grinning back at him and he leaned up, smacking a kiss to the boy's lips before flopping his head back on the pillows. "Yeah I'd hope so, I nearly died this morning because of it." 

Which sounded dramatic, Jisung knew that, but it was _completely_ true. 

After an hour of cuddling when they'd first woken up this morning, a quick shower together, (that was actually 30 minutes long since Minho dropped to his knees in the shower and nearly made Jisung see stars again from coming so hard just from the boy's mouth on his dick again), they made their way out of Jisung's bedroom and Minho finally got a proper apartment tour, despite both of them agreeing last night's tour was _top notch_. 

Once Jisung finished showing Minho his apartment, they settled in the kitchen with Jisung sitting on one of the bar stools at the island and Minho resting his hip against the sink counter across from him as they ate the chocolate chip Eggos waffles Jisung claimed he _"skilfully made"_ after the waffles popped from the microwave and Jisung gave Minho a plate of two with syrup to which Minho clapped for, agreeing that _Master Chef_ would have nothing on Jisung's advanced cooking skills which they both had a laugh over. 

After that it was pretty quiet, just enjoying the silence that fell around them. The lack of sound in the room was so comfortable, it actually made Jisung smile down at his plate as he brought the last piece of waffle in his mouth and that apparently was the perfect cue to start a conversation for Minho. 

Just as Jisung began to swallow his food, Minho looked over at him and said, "So we didn't explicitly say anything last night, but like... I can call you my boyfriend now, right?" 

To which Jisung responded with a fit of coughing, choking hard on his food and his eyes began to water. 

Minho simply bit his lip to avoid smiling. 

"Your– _your boyfriend_?" Jisung managed to get out as he coughed into his fist after the majority of his choking subsided and downed his entire glass of milk. 

"Are you okay?" Minho laughed as Jisung brought his shirt up to wipe his eyes.

"How could you ask me something like that when I had a fucking fork halfway down my throat?" Jisung exclaimed, hands flying around as he spoke which caused Minho to laugh harder, his eyes making little crescents. 

"Is that your way of telling me you have a horrible gag reflect?" 

"Oh my god, no!" Jisung slapped his hands over his cheek, dragging them down his face as he looked down at the countertop. He imagined his face looked just horrified from how badly Minho was laughing now, head thrown back as he held his stomach, spurts of laughter pouring from his lips. 

"So no to being my boyfriend then?" 

Jisung felt like he had been transported to another planet from how hard he snapped his head back in Minho's direction. 

"No! Yes, what? Wait! Yes, I think. I just–" Jisung started laughing now, Minho's mind game finally catching up to him as the boy walked up to the island, grinning at Jisung across it. "Fuck, be my boyfriend!" 

Minho shrugged nonchalantly as if he hadn't caused Jisung's head to spin, resting his elbows on the counter, as he leaned his chin in his hands. "Okay." 

"I can't– you're so... What the fuck." Jisung shook his head, he didn't know what he was trying to even say. He leaned over the counter, hand coming up behind Minho's neck to bring him closer as he pressed their lips together, his other hand balancing him on the counter from the awkward angle they were in. 

"And for the record I don't have a horrible gag reflect." Jisung mumbled against Minho's lips, pulling away slowly and came to an abrupt stop when Minho's hands came up to the collar of his shirt, fisting the material as he pulled Jisung back in, looking at the boy with a mischievous smile. 

"Care to prove it?" 

Jisung had grinned, nodding towards the hallway to his bedroom and planted another kiss to his boyfriend's lips. "Hell yeah."

(Jisung figured he erased any doubt his gag reflects if the whimpers leaving Minho's mouth and hard tugs to his hair twenty minutes later were any tell-tale sign.) 

  
  
  
  


"You didn't nearly die, if you'd actually choked on your food I would've helped you. I'm trained in first aid and CPR." 

"I'm sorry if what I was doing isn't classified as choking to you, what is exactly?" 

"Do you _really_ want me to answer that?" Minho let out a laugh at the way Jisung's eyes went wide for a second. 

"No, not right now. But put that on the back burner, 'cause that sounds real fucking interesting." Jisung laughed as well, arms slipping over Minho's shoulders when Minho swung a leg over him, propping himself up to straddle his hips and rested his hands on either side of Jisung's head to lean over the boy's chest, face a few inches from Jisung's as the air in the room shifted. 

"Tell me when you're not planning on leaving." Jisung's voice was barely audible as he ran a hand down Minho's bare arm, his fingers slipping underneath Minho's hand that was against the sheet to tangle their fingers together. "I don't want you to go." 

Minho's face fell slightly as he squeezed his hand against Jisung's. "I don't either. But I'll be back Wednesday night, I'll see you then."

"You get back in the city late though, and you have dance that night, I don't want you to feel like you have to see me when I know you'll be tired." Jisung pointed out and Minho was quick to shake his head. 

"It's fine, I'll skip it next week." 

Jisung flicked the back of Minho's head with his free hand. "I think the fuck not." 

"I'll only be working four days a week at the sanctuary now since my classes are starting back up next month." 

"What days will you work?" 

"Sunday to Wednesday, but Sundays are the night shift. Saturdays are my only actual full free day since my classes will be Thursdays and Fridays." Minho explained and Jisung couldn't hide the way his face fell, nodding as he bit his lip, breaking eye contact to look off to the side where their hands were intertwined. 

"Oh." 

"But my school is only like, a fifteen minute bus ride from downtown, I think I can actually see Hwang's restaurant if I'm on the top floor of the med building." Minho mumbled, giving a reassuring squeeze to Jisung's hand and watching his face light up just enough to bring a smile to his lips as he looked back up at Minho. 

"So technically I can see you anytime I want Thursday and Friday, then every Saturday, even most of the day on Sundays, like right now." 

"I mean not _any_ time, you do have to work as well. But I'm sure I could stop at the restaurant if you work those nights, or even come by your apartment." Minho giggled as Jisung's smile continued to grow. "But yeah, I'm all yours on every Saturday and every Sunday until three." 

"I like the idea of you being here when I walk in after work." Jisung couldn't stop himself from letting the truth slip out, knowing he might be overstepping but didn't really care. 

They'd talked at the buffet last night about Minho's apartment almost being on the opposite side of the city because rent was cheaper while balancing working an hour outside of the city most days while he was still in school. He even talked about wanting to save up for a car soon so that way he'd get into the city in half the time it took him now. He just couldn't afford the extra expense right now, which is why he stayed at the small rooming house at the sanctuary throughout the week when he had to work. 

"You'd be okay with that? Me just randomly being here when you get home? What if you had a shit day at JYP and swing home just to grab a change of clothes before heading to the restaurant and there I am just sitting on your couch?" 

"It sounds like you'd make the day a lot better before I go work a night shift. You might even make my entire day Lee." Jisung softly teased when he saw Minho's cheeks begin to tint red. 

"I mean," Minho pecked Jisung's lips quickly, smiling when he leaned away and Jisung went to chase his lips again. "I guess I could be here sometimes." 

"Yeah?" Jisung brought both hands up to Minho's cheeks, feeling the warmth of his flushed cheeks send a shiver down his spine. "So about that date you wanted to take me on this week then, wanna be here after my shift on Thursday?" 

He had that stupid grin on his face again, the one that every time Minho saw it, he felt like his heart was about to pound out of his chest if he looked at Jisung for another second. 

It used to really scare him, when he first met Jisung and developed feelings for the boy early on, used to scare him that sometimes he wanted to break eye contact and ignore his rapid heartbeat but as the days went on, he learned to just roll with it. 

Now, Jisung's stupid grins made his heart swell, because Minho knew _he_ was the reason for them. Minho knew he was the reason for Jisung's happiness in those moments. 

And he didn't want it any other way. 

"Yeah." Minho mirrored Jisung's grin, his heart ringing throughout his ears as he pecked kisses all over Jisung's face and Jisung's low laughter echoed throughout the room. "Yeah, I'll be here." 

"Good." Jisung brought Minho's face back to his again, thumbs rubbing over the boy's cheekbones as they looked into each other's eyes until Jisung got overwhelmed by the love he saw in Minho's eyes and he nearly whined when he pulled Minho down to close the gap between them once again. Minho let out a sigh and held onto his waist, breaking their kiss to kiss down Jisung's jaw and neck, the boy's back arching ever so slightly when Minho bit at a spot of skin on his throat. 

"It's almost two, you have to call a taxi soon if you want to make it to your apartment to grab a few days worth of shit and make it to the sanctuary on time." Jisung mumbled as he tilted his head to look at his nightstand's clock, a gasp leaving his lips when he felt Minho sucking hard on the purple blemish he just left on Jisung's skin and placed a final kiss to it before trailing a few wet kisses back up Jisung's neck, settling on a spot just underneath his jaw to nip at again. 

"Just a few more minutes." 

Jisung only hummed in response as his eyes closed, leaning his head back to give Minho all the space he wanted to mark Jisung up, the feeling creating such heat in Jisung's stomach that he was sure the fire wouldn't burn out for days. 

  
  


("Hey Minho?" 

"Hmm?" 

"Take the spare set of keys hanging on the wall when you leave."

There was a pause, but he felt the smile against his neck. 

"Okay Jisung.") 

***

  
  
  
  


Jisung's hair was nearly fully black again by the time he and Felix had found free time in their schedules to meet up and have a day to themselves. 

They'd ended up leaving their jobs at Hwang's, both with happy and heavy hearts at the same time, happy that they were finally advancing in their careers, but with a heavy heart since working at the restaurant had been such a big part of their lives for the past couple years. 

Felix had been offered a part time communication teacher's position at a middle school where he helped foreign students adjust to learning in a different language and also had after school classes every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday where he taught classes on sign language to different groups of kids eager to learn such a vital skill that was often overlooked in the educational system. 

After Jisung's internship at JYP ended, he accepted a full time producer position, working Monday to Friday from 8-4 in his own studio across the hall from Chan's. It had taken Jisung a month or so to adjust fully to having his evenings mostly free without having to go into Hwang's and work the closing night shift, he'd even shown up at the restaurant one night completely out of breath, thinking he was late for his shift until Hyunjin saw him panting by the doorway, asking him if he wanted a table or was just stopping by to visit and a _"Wait, why are you out of breath? Did you run here?"_

He also had three extra alarms set on his phone in the mornings nowadays, that way he'd never be late and was usually always sitting outside on his apartment building steps waiting for Chan to pick him up almost every day. 

Except for Thursdays. 

Thursdays tended to be his days when he'd sleep through at least two of the three alarms, and Minho would end up grabbing Jisung's phone by the time the third alarm went off, turning the phone on silent and stuffing it under the boy's pillow, complaining into his neck that he'd barely slept and didn't want to hear such obnoxious noises so early. 

_"You say that as if we both don't willingly stay up half the night to be with each other."_ is what Jisung would usually mumble out, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend.

 _"That's completely false."_ would always be Minho's reply, or some other type of denial. 

  
  
  


("Okay, so who was the guy fucking me last night then? 'Cause he seemed _really_ willing to go for another two rounds after not seeing me for three days. I liked him, he was hot and could definitely fuck me well into the night any time he wanted." was Jisung's bold response one day and Minho's sleepy mood instantly disappeared as he ducked his head under bed covers, crawling down Jisung's body, pressing hot kisses down the boy's bare chest. 

Jisung didn't give any sign of resistance when Minho went to pull his pyjama bottoms down to his knees. 

He was 29 minutes late that Thursday morning. 

Chan nearly broke down his apartment door with his fist until the door flew open, Chan's fist coming two inches away from Minho's face and Chan's eyes went wide when he saw his friend's lips that were swollen beyond belief and Minho looked back at Chan, plastering a smile on his face as if he wasn't blushing like crazy. 

He pushed past Chan as he ran down the hallway to the stairs, shouting a _"sorry, lost track of time!"_ He was already ten minutes late to his first class of the day. 

Chan had taken one look at Jisung who was standing further in the apartment with such a content look on his face that Chan couldn't help but laugh as he shook his head. 

"You disgust me, you really do." 

"I mean I think you're just jealous I've started my morning way better than you have." 

Chan snorted, snapping his fingers at Jisung to get out of the apartment. "You're so fuckin' lucky that I'm over the moon about you two dating or else I'd probably kill you right now."

"Love you Channie hyung." Jisung grabbed his bag on the couch and skipped towards the boy, bliss written all over his face. 

"Yeah yeah, I love you too. Now get downstairs to the car before we both get fired and for the love of god, zip up your sweater to hide that massive hickey on your neck you shameless fool."

Jisung laughed the entire way down the hall.) 

"Think your boyfriend's gonna shit himself when he sees your hair?" Felix put the gloves over his hands and grabbed the bottle of dye Jisung had been shaking vigorously for the past two minutes after combining the packages. 

Jisung laughed but sat up straight at the chill that went down his spine when Felix squeezed a bit of the cold liquid onto Jisung's dried bleach blond roots. "I'm definitely going for his jaw dropping to the ground."

"Oh it will." Felix giggled when Jisung took a big sniff of the smell of hair dye filling the air, wiggling in his chair. "Stop moving goof, I'll end up dyeing half your neck blue, even though I see you have some marks that resemble that colour anyways." Jisung flushed and immediately went to cover the side of his neck and Felix slapped his hand away. "Is Minho a vampire and you've never told me?" 

"My boyfriend isn't a vampire, no. But yours might be, hmm?" Jisung grinned when Felix's hands stopped spreading dye in his hair for a second, he knew the boy was checking if his shirt was covering his collarbones. 

"No need to check, I saw them on our FaceTime call last night when you leaned down and brought the phone with you, saw your entire chest and I must admit, you're hot Lix. Changbinnie is a lucky guy, but I think he knows that too if the hickeys on your collar bones say anything." 

"Oh my god, shut up Jisung." 

"Are you happy?" Jisung asked, his teasing tone gone, replaced with softness. 

Felix hummed for a moment as if he was lost in thought, brushing in more dye throughout Jisung's hair. "I am, yeah." 

"He posted a real critic picture on Instagram this morning of bottles of tattoo ink with a caption of _'adding another element to love'_ with a sunshine emoji so I can only assume it has something to do with you. What's that about?" 

"He's getting one of his buddies at the shop to tattoo another droplet of blood to the rose on his neck today. Each droplet represents something to do with our relationship."

"What's today's for?" 

"Our break up." 

"Isn't that sad to remember though?" 

Felix shrugged even though Jisung couldn't see him. "We really needed that time apart to grow and realise stuff, especially Changbin. So it's important to us, _to him_. He said the new droplet will always remind him how important I am to him and that without it, he could've lost me." 

Jisung thought for a moment. "Damn, Changbin's a totally softie, isn't he?" 

Felix snorted. "He really is." 

Maybe he was caught up in thinking about relationships and his mind absently wandered to his own boyfriend and so he was barely aware he'd mumbled "I think I'm gonna ask Minho to move in with me." until Felix yanked at his hair, sending Jisung's neck flying back. 

"Ow! Felix, what the hell?" Jisung whined, leaning forward away from Felix's hand and the boy immediately apologised, patting Jisung's hair. 

"Shit sorry, I wasn't expecting you to randomly say that it caught me off guard." Felix soothed the boy's shoulders away from his neck that came up defensively and resumed his dye job. "But that's amazing! He practically lives there as it is now anyways." 

Felix wasn't that far off. 

Jisung could count the number of times he'd been to Minho's apartment on one hand, the total count being _three_. Each visit had only been to help the boy grab extra clothes or some of his textbooks to bring to Jisung's. The last time they'd gone to Minho's apartment, Minho actually laughed at how foreign the place felt to him since at the time it had been almost two months since he spent a night in his own apartment. 

And Jisung didn't mind, fuck, he _loved_ it. Loved having Minho already in his apartment when Jisung walked in the door, curled up on the couch with a textbook in his hands. Or when Minho was out of the city for a few days working at the sanctuary and texted Jisung that he was taking a cab in and would be at his place within two hours. 

He loved everything about Minho practically living with him and he wanted it to be official. 

"Yeah, I figure this way if we're splitting costs, we can probably get a car so he doesn't have to walk to wait for a taxi or bus in the rain anymore to go to the sanctuary, he can drive there and maybe even come back in the city the same day afterwards. And– and on days that he doesn't work and just has classes, he can drive there or sometimes I could drop him off at his school before I go to work instead of getting Chan to drive me every day."

"It sounds like you really thought everything through." 

Jisung couldn't see Felix's face, but from how soft his voice was, he knew the boy was smiling down at him in the chair and it made heat rush to Jisung's cheeks, eyes on Felix's kitchen floor. 

"I mean, I guess so." 

"It's definitely the right step in your relationship for sure, you two have been dating for over six months but seen and spent nearly every day with each other almost for nearly eight months. Which is awesome Jisungie, I'm really happy for you guys. And proud of you especially." 

"Why proud?" 

"Jisung, look at me for a second," Felix paused his hands that were spreading the dye throughout Jisung's hair and the boy turned his head, eyes focusing on Felix. "Eight months ago you were crying into my chest in the back of Hyunjin's car about being too scared of your feelings that you broke Minho's heart and here you are now, telling me you're going to ask him to move in. That's insane self improvement and development Jisung. You should be proud of yourself, because I definitely am."

Jisung couldn't help but blush really, the genuine sincerity in his friend's voice pulled at his heart and he realised that he had a point. Jisung should be proud of himself and he was, for the most part at least. There were always little pieces of doubt lingering in Jisung's mind sometimes.

"Thanks Lix, that really means a lot. Is it weird I'm nervous as to what his answer will be when I ask him?" 

Felix shook his head, turning Jisung back around to finish dyeing his hair. "Not at all, it's a big step. But if he has the audacity to say no after literally unofficially living with you for _months_ now, _and_ after seeing your amazing ass new hair, I will not hesitate to crack a broom over his head." 

Jisung laughed, nodding. 

"Good to know." 

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


By the time he got back to his apartment, it was shortly after three in the afternoon and when he unlocked the door, he expected Minho to still be asleep. He definitely didn't expect to see Minho with a hood over his head, leaning against the sink with a big bowl of cereal in one hand, spoon in the other as he ate. And he certainly didn't expect to see the boy have Jisung's wireless headphones over his head, quietly humming along to a song. 

Jisung knew his wireless headphones had been last connected to his laptop last night when he was working on some music and the thought that Minho was probably listening to it made Jisung smile wide.

Minho seemed to be lost in his own world, eyes barely open and Jisung figured he'd probably just woken up a bit ago. He had been fast asleep when Jisung woke up that Monday morning, the unusual extra body heat taking Jisung by surprise for a second until he remembered Minho had texted him around midnight last night saying he would be there within a few hours but provided no further detail and Jisung had actually received a voice mail from one of Minho's friends at the wildlife sanctuary early in the morning. 

_"Hi Jisung, it's Jamie! I know Minho mentioned he was going to your place after he left work last night and he's probably still asleep so I just wanted to give you a heads up that he might be pretty upset today. We had a flu breakout in some of the species this past week and one of Minho's long term patients in the seal enclosure passed away last night. He was pretty torn up, that's why he was given the day off. Maybe give him some extra love and support if you can, thanks!"_

When Jisung shut the door hard enough to grab Minho's attention for his head to pop up, he saw just how torn up his boyfriend was, with bags under his puffy eyes from crying on his way home and the strings of Jisung's heart were pulled to no end until he saw Minho's eyes focus on him properly and he proceeded to nearly inhale his bowl of cereal, eyes going wide as he choked on the spoon in his mouth. 

Jisung felt bad, but he couldn't help but laugh. 

Along with his freshly dyed blue hair, Felix had insisted on doing matching blue smokey eye makeup on Jisung before he'd left. 

"I can't tell if that's a good reaction or not." Jisung snorted when Minho stopped choking, taking the headphones off his hood and set them down on the counter with his bowl and spoon. 

Minho tapped his chest a few times, shaking his head. "I know I was sleeping when you left this morning but I don't remember you looking like that when I fell asleep beside you last night."

Jisung shrugged as he made his way over his boyfriend, dropping his phone and bag on the couch. "What do you think?"

Minho leaned back against the counter again, crossing his arms over his chest. "The colour is beautiful, it brings out every sweet feature on your face. _You're_ beautiful." Minho spoke honestly and Jisung blushed, rolling his eyes as he lifted himself up on the island counter across from Minho.

"Thank you. I love how sappy you are when you're still half asleep."

Minho laughed. "I mean, I also wanna see how the blue looks between my fingers as I pull your hair when you're fucking me but I suppose that's not sappy enough for you."

Jisung felt his dick twitch in his pants and his eyes widened. "Well, I kind of like that idea more than the sappy shit."

Minho rolled his eyes playfully as he pushed himself off the counter, coming in between Jisung's legs, resting his hands on the boy's thighs. "How was your day with Felix?"

"It was great. We had a fun day, I missed him a lot." Jisung gently pulled Minho's hood off his head and ran his fingers through the boy's hair being just as gentle as he took a look at the redness around Minho's eyes and frowned. "How are you? Jamie left me a voicemail this morning, do you want to talk about it?"

"I–" Minho paused, shrugging as he rested his forehead against Jisung's chest, closing his eyes as Jisung's fingers continued to comb his hair softly. "I should be doing a lot better than I am considering patients pass away all the time. It's just part of the job. But I was the only caregiver to Soonie because she was half blind and would shout and try to bite anyone else that would feed her because she had to be tube fed for the first few months we had her, but she didn't mind me. And she'd always swim right up to me when I went to check on her in the seal enclosure's pool. I guess I felt like she was my responsibility, I even named her when she came in as a baby." Minho's voice was getting shaky and Jisung pulled the boy in closer to his chest, pressing kisses in his hair. 

"When I got in for my shift last night, some of the staff literally came running to me saying Soonie wasn't doing good, like coughing and gasping and refused to eat and by the time I got to her enclosure on the other side of the sanctuary, they put her in one of the tubs to keep her from the others and her heart rate was already dropping and– and _fuck_ , I tried everything Jisung. Everything I could to save her but her immune system was still so weak from her mother abandoning her as a seal pup and I thought it would get better within time but it just, it didn't and when I was about to go get one of the other doctors, she actually made a noise and I know this sounds crazy but I swear– _I swear_ she was asking me to stay by her so I sat with her for three hours until she finally passed away. And it's pathetic really, but I basically broke down when I checked her heartbeat realising it wasn't there anymore and Jamie and a few others had to physically lift me out of the tub because I was hyperventilating and felt like I couldn't move."

"It's not pathetic babe. And it's not a crazy thought to think she wanted you to stay with her when she knew she was sick. Animals are smart, she knew you cared for her and I'm sure she was thankful for everything you ever did for her." Jisung lifted the boy's head away from his chest and cupped his cheeks, wiping underneath his eyes softly to catch the tears that had yet to fall. "You were with her in her last moments, and I have no doubt that she was so happy about that, Minho."

Minho let out a small whimper as he nodded and held Jisung's wrists, squeezing them a bit. "I'm sorry I'm a mess. This is probably the last thing you wanted to come home to on your day off."

"Don't say that. You know I love every second you're here, and you went through a lot last night so it's understandable. I should've cancelled my plans with Felix to be here for you."

Minho was quick to shake his head. "No, no. I'm glad you went out and had fun. I slept the entire day away anyways. Plus, if you hadn't gone out, this wouldn't have happened, and I have plans with these locks." Minho gave Jisung a crooked smile as he pushed Jisung's blue bangs out of his face, running a hand through his hair and purposely pulled at the back a bit, giggling when Jisung's eyes fluttered momentarily. 

"I could've stayed at the sanctuary's dorm last night since I have to work tomorrow but I just wanted to be here. I always sleep better when I'm here, especially if you're next to me." 

Jisung's heart swelled when he heard Minho's words. "Why?" 

Minho shrugged, even though he knew what he wanted to say. "Just being in your apartment, surrounded by your things, it makes me feel calm, safe even. Even when I'm here and you're out somewhere, I feel like your presence is still around and it helps me relax." Minho raised a hand to Jisung's cheek, rubbing his thumb across the boy's cheekbone. "It probably sounds weird, but I haven't had a sense of home since I moved out of my parents' house when I was 18, even when I lived with them for a year when I broke my leg, it didn't feel like a home to me anymore. But being here with you really feels like I'm where I should be. Like I'm home."

If Jisung could've melted in that moment, he knew he would have. He took a deep breath in through his nose, letting his shoulders relax as he exhaled and leaned down a bit so his forehead was resting against Minho's.

"So make it your home." Jisung whispered, hands still holding Minho's cheeks as he continued, "Move in with me, officially."

Minho's eyes darted back and forth from Jisung's and he bit his bottom lip as a smile began to spread across his face. "Are you serious?"

Jisung nodded, a small spurt of laughter escaping his mouth. "It'll save both of us money and we can finally get that car we've been talking about. I want you here all the time, not just when you're able to make time to crash at my place in between work and your classes. I want you to be able to make this apartment yours too, your home."

"With you? A home with you? Like, _our_ apartment?" Minho asked, voice giddy as he held onto Jisung's hips, slipping the boy off the counter and wrapped his arms around his neck. 

"Yeah, our home. Our apartment." Jisung laughed, hands dropping from Minho's cheeks to hold onto his neck as he pressed a kiss to Minho's chin. "Move in with me." 

Minho hummed, swaying them around the kitchen a bit. "I mean, I've basically already stolen half your closet space anyways. And driving to work sounds a lot better than standing in the rain waiting for a bus. _And_ the thought of finishing work and being able to go home every night and spend time with you really does sound nice."

"So what do you say, Lee?"

They were both grinning at this point. If anyone else saw him, they'd probably think they looked like absolute fools, just staring at each other with grins that were stretching their cheeks. 

"Guess I should call my landlord then."

Jisung didn't think he could get any happier at that moment. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Minho nodded, love sick grin still in his face as Jisung brought his face closer to his. "Gotta tell him I'm leaving to move in with my boyfriend."

 _Nevermind_ , Jisung's happiness had just reached a new all time record, heart beating out of his chest and he couldn't help but laugh again, leaning in to kiss Minho. 

"I love you." _A kiss_. "Like I'm so in love with you." _Another kiss._ "God, Minho, I really fucking love you."

Minho giggled against his lips, whispering the words back each time and held the boy so tightly to him he almost worried he would hurt him but Jisung showed no signs of pain, happiness and love practically pouring from his eyes and lips every time he spoke and kissed him.

"I really love you too, Jisung." 

  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  


_Two years later._

  
  
  
  


Jisung heard keys on the opposite side of the apartment wall and he glanced up briefly to see the door beginning to open before his eyes fell back down to his notebook. 

"How do you think you did?" Jisung mumbled when he heard a bag drop on the ground as he finished scribbled out the last few lines of a song he was working on, a new project he decided to take on last week for the group he liked to call _'Chan's seven adopted children'._

"I don't want to be overly confident, but I think I did pretty good. I might call the sanctuary later, tell them I'm waiting for the results." 

"Yeah, you gotta call them." Jisung nodded, his pencil led breaking as he finished the last sentence in his notebook. 

The sanctuary had already offered Minho a full time Monday to Friday position last month, saying the job was his as soon as he passed his final exam, Minho had cried when he told Jisung the news, which had also made Jisung cry, being so happy for his boyfriend in being one step closer to his career goal. 

When Jisung looked up from his mess all over the coffee table, he leaned back on the couch and almost gasped when he saw Minho for the first time that day. 

Though Jisung already figured Minho had slept like shit before he'd seen his boyfriend, it was evident as soon as he saw him from how dark the underneath of his eyes were, a result of the boy's all-nighter he tried to pull. Jisung had woken up around 1am last night, turning over and extended his arm out for Minho but when he felt a lack of warmth next to him, he'd opened his sleepy eyes and saw that Minho was nowhere in sight. Instead, he saw a light coming from outside their room and he shuffled down the hall, not caring about the way goosebumps covered his bare arms, to find Minho sitting cross-legged on the counter top by the sink almost in the dark if it wasn't for the lamp turned on in the living room and reflection of the moon from the window by the sink, with his eyes glued to a big textbook in his hands as the kitchen island was covered with notebooks and highlighters and Minho's laptop, screen nearly blinding Jisung when he looked at it. 

He knew the pressure Minho felt to ace in his final medical exam, it being the deciding factor in whether he graduated with all his requirements in a few weeks, but he couldn't let Minho collapse halfway through his three hour exam tomorrow. 

"Hyungie," Jisung mumbled quietly, not to startle Minho, the rare nickname slipping past his lips caused Minho to raise his head almost instantly and that had been the first glimpse Jisung saw the faint shadow of purple bags under his eyes and he frowned. "I thought you said only a few more minutes." 

"How long has it been?" 

"When I left you on the couch to go to bed, it was almost 11:30, it's now one in the morning." 

Minho sighed and his tone might have come out as playful if he hadn't been so exhausted. "I don't suppose you'll let me finish reading this chapter?" 

Jisung shook his head, leaning against the corner of the wall, a small tired smile on his face as he raised his hand out in front of him, a gesture that he knew Minho would understand. " _C'mon_." 

Minho didn't want to, Jisung saw it in his eyes, but he glanced between Jisung's eyes and his hand for a second before he shut his book, hopping off the counter and putting the textbook with the rest of his notes and shut his laptop screen as he walked by, scuffing his socked feet to Jisung and took his hand, letting Jisung lead them both back to bed where Minho melted into Jisung's arms as soon as they were under the covers, falling asleep almost immediately. 

Minho had woken up an hour before their alarm and taken off before Jisung had fully woken up earlier that morning, leaving by pressing a soft kiss to the boy's hair, saying he was going to walk to school to let the morning air give him good luck for his exam and that Jisung could take their car to work and Jisung, with his eyes closed still and half his face pressed into the pillow, had just reached an arm out of the blankets to squeeze Minho's wrist, and managed to get a sleepy whisper of _"good luck, love you"_ out before he dozed off again. 

  
  
  


So now, being fully awake and alert, he saw Minho, hair parted in the centre so his forehead was exposed, wearing black skinny jeans that Jisung swore must have been his own from how tight they were hugging onto Minho's thighs, the red pair of converse shoes Jisung had bought him a few months ago for his birthday, and the brightest yellow hoodie Jisung had seen in his two years of seeing colours. 

"Damn, yellow's never looked so good before."

Minho snorted, the bags under his eyes disappearing for a second as he wrinkled his eyes up, whole face lighting up with a smile as he let out a bit of laughter, making his way to Jisung. "Not even when you first saw it?"

 _Not a fucking chance_ , Jisung thought.

The yellow colour was practically reflecting off Minho's golden skin, creating such a glow around him that Jisung felt the warmth as soon as Minho came within ten feet of him, sending chills down his spine and he felt his chest tighten in such a way that when Minho practically flopped onto Jisung on the couch with his head in his lap, curling his legs up so his knees were resting by Jisung's right hip, Jisung let out a happy sigh. 

And everything just felt right.

"No, this yellow is better, way better." Jisung said, running a hand through Minho's hair softly. 

"I agree." Minho whispered, understanding Jisung's underlying meaning, his head turning to look at Jisung who was already looking down at him and he smiled, hand reaching up and Jisung instantly caught his boyfriend's hand in his own, lacing their fingers together. "I like the calming ease of this one much better." 

Jisung couldn't agree more. 

There were no nerves when he saw this yellow. No fear of disappointment, one sided love, or rejection. 

Just _warmth_. 

That perfect heat with just enough sting to it that kept Jisung so warm at night even during the coldest winter nights mother nature could throw at him. 

"Thank you," Minho mumbled and rubbed his thumb over Jisung's fingers, a tired smile on his lips as he stared at their hands. "For last night, I probably wouldn't have ever gone to bed if you hadn't come to find me, so again thank you. I love you."

"I love you too, you're welcome." Jisung brought their hands to his lips to press a kiss to Minho's knuckles. "You'll be able to catch up on tons of sleep in a few weeks when we meet the others at the cabin." 

They weren't able to go on month-long vacations anymore, all their lives getting busier and schedules harder to line up as they got older, but a week and a half away at a cabin surrounded by their best friends sounded like a perfect break from reality to Jisung and Minho. 

"You won't keep me up past midnight almost every night?" Minho teased, leaning his head into Jisung's hoodie, nosing at the material as he closed his eyes and Jisung snorted. 

"Oh you're one to talk. Weren't you the one that kept me up until after two in the morning last year because you wanted to _"recreate our love story"_?" 

"I have no idea what you're talking about Han." Minho said, the lie obvious in his tone but he was grinning as he brought his and Jisung's intertwined hands into his chest as he shuffled around, getting properly comfortable on Jisung's lap. 

"Sure you don't Lee, _sure_." Jisung shook his head, taking his hand that was previously running through Minho's hand to reach for the boy's hood, pulling it over his head to cover half his face. 

Minho opened one eye, the one that wasn't covered by his hood and looked at Jisung, a soft but still so, so tired smile on his face and Jisung nearly got lost in the beauty of the yellow hood against Minho's skin again. 

"Pretty." He nodded and Minho groaned, mumbling _"shut up babe"_ as he tossed his head back to the side into Jisung's stomach to hide his blush as Jisung just hugged the boy as close as he could, chuckling as he leaned down to peck at Minho's hooded face. 

It was in their quieter moments like these when Jisung decided to change his favourite colour, a silly thing to do to some but it was so easy for him to do. To just look at Minho and just _know_. 

Know that in times like this, his comfort colour of black wasn't his favourite anymore, it wasn't what brought him peace in that second. 

It was yellow. 

Because Jisung saw it every time he looked at Minho.

Because Minho was the one, he was his person. 

_His_ yellow. 

***

  
  
  
  


("Hey guys, can you go down to the docks and get the others? I'm helping Hyunjin make supper and he said it's almost done– _oh shit!_ Sorry!"

Jisung's head turned, sending a glare towards the door, his voice practically coming out in a growl. "Leave." 

"Tell Hyunjin we'll be out in a bit." Minho said, leaning up on his elbows, and looked past Jisung in his lap, eyes on the doorway. He couldn't help it when he squeezed Jisung's ass through his pants with his hands, rolling the boy's hips down and Jisung whipped back around to hide his face that was burning with embarrassing in Minho's neck as he let out a soft whine, giving another roll of his hips against Minho's. 

"Oh, and shut the door behind you, will you Seungmin?"

The door was slammed shut a second later.) 

**Author's Note:**

> Well that was that! I'm honestly very proud of this fic, I worked so damn hard on it lmao.  
> I hope everyone liked it ❤️
> 
> Comments, kudos, bookmarks, anything and everything is appreciated.  
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/kthlimitless?s=09) & [tumblr](https://kthlimitless.tumblr.com)  
> 


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